Sons Of Destiny Episode III: The Eclipse Of Fate
by Kjoil
Summary: The Sons Of Destiny are close to completing their mission, and Rishi ventures to Regana to disrupt their plans, and discover the fate of his Master...
1. The Calm Before The Storm

"Creativity represents a miraculous coming together of the uninhibited energy of the child with its apparent opposite and enemy, the sense of order imposed on the disciplined adult intelligence."

_(Norman Podhoretz)_

"For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few are better than their fathers."

_(Homer, The Odyssey)_

Space.

Upon the black canvas only painted with sparkling stars, Regana floated like an oblivous pearl. A lonely insignificant planet in the far corner of the Galaxy, barely noticeable, barely inhabitable. And yet, for the past month, events that would shape the future for years to come had taken place right there on it's arctic surface. It held a concentration of Force energy unmatched by the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, and like a well of power every living Jedi in the Galaxy could feel it's surge, like a drawing power beckoning them to come and visit it's inhospitable snowy plains.

But with the rest of the Jedi engaged in training and not ready for the test that awaited them, only two answered the planet's call.

Rishi Kjoil had his cloak wrapped around him for warmth, he felt as though the planet had fingers, reaching out and touching him, it's icy tendrils running over his body. He combated the sensation with the Force, as well as his own logic. But there was a coldness inside of him that could not be sated, a deep lonely hole where regret was fast building itself a nest.

_This is where he die_d, Rishi thought to himself. He was unaware of the events that had led to his Master's demise, but he stared at the planet with such anger and longing that he wished he could rip out the heart of the planet itself and squeeze it to death in his palm. So much anger and hate flowed through him, only building with each minute that he came closer to the planet.

And yet, he felt as if he was standing at the end of a very long road. A road paved by many others, years before he was even born. And now here he was, almost at the end of it, on his way to meet this Kayupa, the man that had most likely killed Master Skar. The clone of Skind Kjoil, the abomination behind all of this insanity. But he was going to end it here, this long overlooked task now had befallen him.

The floor panels beneath him shook vaguely as someone came up and stood beside him. Rishi didn't have to turn his face away from the object of his hate to know that the person next to him was Kal Ulani, Jedi Knight. The Jedi said nothing, only secluded himself in his own cloak, he also felt the same tendrils moving over him.

They both stood on the bridge of the _Masumune_, one of three _Republic_-class Star Destroyers in their fleet, led by Admiral Gout Saul. Each with a crew of over eight thousand and able to carry over three thousand soldiers, as well as four squadrons of starfighters, Rishi felt more than enough pressure weighing on his draped shoulders. The _Republic_-class, for unknown reason, never saw extensive production and as made Rishi wonder why Admiral Saul have been given an entire three.

Shaped much like the more infamous _Victory_-class, except for two cavities near the stern, they were still an impressive armada, and Rishi felt priviledged to be standing on the bridge, to feel the force pounding through the ship beneath his boots, and the sharp professionalism of every member in the crew. For some who'd spent so much time tending a disdain to the Republic, he had to admit the feeling had wealth in itself.

For the last week they'd been traveling through hyperspace to reach Regana, a long arduous journey that had tested Rishi's very sanity. He'd known before leaving Coruscant behind that his Master had fallen. He'd felt it in the Force. Since their departure he'd thrown himself at various tasks to fill out the hours, to distract his mind from the single fact that surfaced in his mind every waking moment.

Master Skar _was _dead.

He'd tried decieving himself, telling himself it wasn't possible and that he was misreading the Force, but deep inside he knew it was true. He'd even tried telling himself that he might make it in time to save his Master. That the feeling he felt inside, that horrible dark emptiness, was only a premonition of things he could yet prevent. He knew he was grasping at straws, but sometimes, a lot of times, it was all that kept him from breaking and submitting fully to his anger. He felt like a taut wire; even the slightest of movement would make him snap and lash out.

After a week together, Kal seemed to understand that and spoke only when spoken to. Rishi turned and bowed his head to Kal beneath the cowl of his hood. "Tell me; what do you see? Do you sense anything, Kal?"

The Jedi's eyes tightened, his feelings orientating around the planet drifiting slowly towards them. "Something...a lot of darkness, but also light."

Rishi suppressed a frown, refusing to believe anything good could exist on the same planet that had claimed his Master's life. But Kal was right, nonetheless. "My first impression also...but there's more. Try expanding your awareness. Your mind looks for one thing, but in doing so you leave yourself closed to everything else."

Kal considered that option, and then tried again. Next to him Rishi could feel Kal's awareness widening, turning from one focused beam into a vast umbrella of focus. Rishi complimented the Jedi mentally, linking his mind with Kal.

Together their minds became a single eye that moved across the surface of the planet. While they could not see images, they could sense intentions and feelings, but were unable to link them to a person. They sensed pride and determination, but also deception. Secrets and unveiled agendas. The planet was a maze of dark emotions; animosity and jealousy, hate and lust, revenge and desire.

Rishi began to feel himself suffer from the link, taking every emotion onto himself, finding it far too easy to relate to these sentiments, and decided to pull back his focus.

Kal did the same, but Rishi could tell by his intense breathing he hadn't expected such a powerful effect. Rishi placed a comforting hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "Relax, it will wear off shortly."

Kal settled himself, focusing on the planet once again, this time with a sense of respect in his eyes. "Wow. I've never done that before," he let out a short breath, "and I don't think I ever will do that again." His eyes went to Rishi again. "What about you? It didn't wear you?"

Rishi shook his head slowly beneath the hood. "That planet can't show me anything not already inside of me. Nothing can."

The Jedi's gaze fell upon the floor. "Sorry...I forgot. Jedi aren't used to those emotions, we avoid them."

"I know," Rishi said stiffly.

Kal looked over at his Kjoil companion. "You're lucky."

Rishi snorted. "Lucky?"

Kal nodded. "Yeah, you live without rules, without boundaries. The Jedi are ruled by our dogmas, because they save our souls. We cannot allow darkness, _won't _allow darkness to be a part of us."

Rishi smirked and looked over at his Jedi accomplice. "And you think of me as lucky because I _can _feel pain, and anger, and hate?"

Kal realized his failing and quickly looked for another way of putting it. "No...I mean...it's just easier for you to - "

"Believe me," Rishi broke in, "if I could, right now I'd choose your Jedi ways."

Kal didn't understand. "Why? Why live by rules when you're free?"

Rishi hugged himself tightly. "If being free means feeling the way I do inside, no cage could be small enough."

Kal nodded slowly, looking away from his companion. "I understand...I've felt the callings of the Dark Side many times, too many times. If it was my Master that had died here, they never would have let me go. They would say I was seeking revenge, a sure path onto the Dark Side."

Rishi shivered, his heart starting to feel pinced. "Dark Side, Light Side...they're the same to me. There's little difference. The Dark Side just seems most useful, it's quicker, faster and stronger. It's rare I find myself looking to compassion to solve a problem. Nevertheless, I am often overcome with compassion when looking at the world. But my compassion always leads me to use the Dark Side to be compassionate on a wider scale." He thought his words through. "Does that...makes any sense to you?"

Kal nodded. "It does. I can't say I live the same way, but I understand your point of view." His eyes narrowed. "Yet I can't seem to find any compassion in your coming here."

Rishi's insides coiled again. "Because there is none."

"Is it revenge? A search for answers?"

Rishi realized he couldn't really be sure. Maybe it was both. Certainly, it was both. What he hoped to achieve on a greater scale eluded him. It was a personal journey, a dangerous one, one even his Master would have frowned upon. But he felt justified coming here, it was the only place he should be. He had to see it for himself, he had to know what had happened, and if he could he would take with him every last soul that had contributed to his Master's death.

Kal shuddered by his side, and started to take distance to the Kjoil apprentice. "Your feelings affect me, Rishi."

Rishi realized his fault and calmed his mind. "I'm sorry, Kal. I'll be more careful. It's just...you must have felt this too, when your Master died. You may have turned away from it, whereas I dive into it willingly."

Kal looked sad at the mention of his own Master. "I can't see what good it does you."

Rishi shrugged. "You're right. But therein lies the difference between you and me; I haven't been taught control so I don't shy away from it. The Dark Side is inside of me, and it's going to make it's presence known once we reach the surface."

Kal kept his position slightly away from Rishi. "You think there's any hope he's..."

"Still alive?" Rishi shook his head. "Not a chance. But that doesn't mean my loyalty to him has ended."

Kal squinted his eyes, gazing at the omnious orb starting to fill most of their viewscreen. "Meaning?"

Rishi smiled, and this time not of vengance or a promise of evil to be unfolded. But a smile of love and reverence. "He may be dead, but his body doesn't belong on this world. I'm not here to save him, Kal. I'm just here to take him back home."

_I never had the chance to apologize for my idiocy, for my betrayal. It's the least I can do for him. _

Rishi caved on the inside and turned away from the viewscreen and marched across the bridge, happy knowing the hood kept his tears hidden from the many technicians working in the pits below.

_It's not even the least I can do. It's all I can do.

* * *

_

Unlike most commanders or captains, Admiral Gout Saul stayed far away from the bridge. He was a quiet but speculative type, not the kind to wear his rank on the outside, but a man known for his patience and overbearing nature. By Rishi's estimate the man had not seen enough battle yet to harden him, although he was spoken of as a great legend among Republic high class, Rishi suspected the rank and honor he'd acheived had been come from the traces of a diplomat in him, that he'd stopped fighting by simply being a man who understood psychology. Rishi had been wary of the man at first, but had grown to like him during their travel to Regana.

He liked him even though Master Skar had met him and placed a taint of distrust in the man, a feeling emanating in the Force, left behind like a mark for other Force sentients to pick up on.

It had been Gout Saul's face that had been there when Rishi had awoken from his second encounter with Boba Fett inside the Bothan's hideout, explaining to him the current situation on Regana. Informing him that the commandos had failed and had been captured and that the only other solution was to send in a fleet to handle the siege.

Kal had been the one that had dragged Rishi to a medical station, heard about the situation from Master Skywalker who instantly engineered another oppertunity for a Kjoil to journey to Regana.

Gout Saul had accepted willingly, almost too willingly for Luke's taste, but Rishi pounced on the chance to go to Regana, to find his answers, and maybe take this Kayupa down once and for all. To fulfill his Master's unsolved issues. Since he'd never finished his training, he believed that tying up the loose ends would make his Master proud, and he could move on, with resolution finally settled in his heart. Kal had volunteered to come along, by Luke's suggestion.

Rishi entered the Admiral's private quarters, a humble two-roomed apartment situated among the living quarters of the crew and soldiers also onboard. The apartment was no different from any other chamber onboard the _Masamune_, same blank walls and modest furniture. It raised Rishi's opinion of the man, that he wasn't caught up in the prestige his title granted him, that he didn't elevate himself higher than those assigned to his fleet.

The Admiral looked up as Rishi came in, made a sincere smile and put away the datapad he was reading. His hands touched the opposite ends of the small desk and motioned with his head for Rishi to take a seat across from him.

Rishi slid into the small chair uneasily, letting his limbs stretch and exhaling a heavy sigh.

"I suppose," the Admiral leaned back in his seat, interlocking his fingers, "seeing the planet itself was harder than you first imagined."

During their travel Rishi had shared many of his thoughts and feelings about the mission with Gout Saul, and although he didn't consider the man a friend, he did think of him as a confidant. Rishi nodded slightly, his face still obscured by the rim of the hood. "No."

Saul's eyes widened. "No?"

Rishi didn't know how to explain it. "I knew what I was going to see, I've seen it in my dreams for the last week." His voice hardened. "But feeling it...I wasn't ready for that."

"The feeling." The Admiral leaned slightly forward. "Tell me about it. Is it a darkness you sense?"

Rishi's eyes came up, fast but solid as rock. "That's just it. There is darkness, great darkness. But also light, pure unrestrained light. And not only that," he pulled in breath, "I feel stronger."

Saul looked confused. "Stronger?"

Rishi's eyes went to one of the small viewports in Saul's chamber, seeing the stars drift by outside. "I feel...like an old knot has finally been undone. A veil lifted. I've never...felt so," he searched for the right words, "unrestrained..._raw_."

Saul's expression changed into concern. "And what does this mean exactly?"

Rishi shook his head. "I don't know...maybe I will once I get groundside. I feel like the Force itself has amassed here on Regana, all of its energy directed towards this one planet."

Saul, like so many others doubtful about the Jedi and the Force, could only produce a worried smile. "It all sounds very disturbing."

Rishi smiled grimly, he liked being mysterious and misunderstood. It gave him a level of power being a mystery. "And yet, for the first time in a long time, there is no disturbance."

Saul looked uncomforted. "I will leave this matter _entirely _to you," he rose from his seating and activated a switch on his desk. "It is your arena, and it's time I saw to mine."

The switch activated a holographic projector in the ceiling above his desk. Soon the air became bright blue, computerized lines and shapes starting to morph into a richly detailed image. A minimized version of Regana painted in bluish and white swirled on its axis before Rishi's eyes.

"Since the Sons of Destiny relayed their declaration of occupation, little has happened in the ways of communicating with the group. As we've feared, it seems even more evident now that the terrorist faction is not interesting in negotiating with the Republic, they have made no demands, no specification of intent. They've simply..._taken _Hope's Haven for their own."

Rishi stared at the little hologram rotating before him, reading the data streams flowing beside it. "Their intent remains hidden. Even if the planet itself holds something of value to them, their lack of communication has worked against them. If they'd made up some bogus demands, the Republic wouldn't have at the rate and force they have."

"You'll make a fine terrorist someday," Saul smiled with obvious sarcasm, but his serious face soon returned. "Why they chose this planet for a siege is beyond me. It's too remote for any strategic advantage," the Admiral looked worried, his right hand rubbing his chin, "I can't help but feel we're walking right into a trap."

Rishi remained unmoved. "That's the way the Republic wants it. They want their repair yard back, willing to sacrifice whatever it takes." His jaw tightened. "Or _whoever_." He blinked and exhaled. "It's the only way we can find out what's really going on down there. Sometimes the only way to evade a trap is to take a long good look at it."

"So it would seem." The Admiral hugged himself. "You're not afraid?"

Rishi smirked. "Afraid? Admiral, I wanted to be here."

Saul stood unchanged. "That doesn't really contradict my point."

Rishi's eyes finally moved away from the hologram. "Fear gets me nowhere. It is a useless emotion. I am here because I _want _to see it, I _want _to know."

Saul walked to the other side of his desk. "Fear breeds calculation, consideration. The enigma surrounding this ghost army, this pointless occupation and the death of your Master, it does not stir your confidence?"

Rishi checked himself, letting the flow of the Force reveal his inner thoughts and unanswered questions. He found no fear, only a curiosity that clung tightly to a desire for revenge and redemption. He supposed he should be afraid by all reason, whatever had claimed his Master's life had to be a powerful entity, and sensing the darkness that shrouded the planet he knew he was in for a challenge.

But he remained undaunted. Maybe it was the presence of a Force in perfect equilibrium, a sensation that left him feeling invulnurable, which rendered all fear into vapor. He felt ready for anything.

Leaving the question unanswered, the Kjoil changed his position in the seat, leaning forward to study the hologram more closely. The closer the _Masamune _approached Regana, more details came into view. Three small space stations, the size of an average city, were sketched in with the planet's image, their blue and white shape in a slow orbit parallel to the groundside repair yard's location.

More data typed itself and one of the space stations was magnified beside the planet, showing the station in elaborate detail.

Saul read the information. "Stations are powered down significantly, leaving only enough for the stations to remain on their programmed orbit. No defenses, no ships, no living signatues onboard. They're dead in space. Guess the terrorists didn't need them."

Rishi frowned and turned his attention back to the planet. "Can you get in tighter on the repair yard?"

The hologram dissolved into a thousand small flecks of blue light, swirling once around an unseen center before massing again to create a small stetch of landscape, the flat terrain rising in several areas to construct buildings, erecting a small city in a span of seconds. The main building was finished last, several of the specks used to create the terrain switched position to capture the main building in all its detail.

Rishi's eyes went wide at the sight of several downed buildings.

Saul also leaned in closer. "Interesting."

"There's been a struggle, fighting."

Saul increased the zoom function on one of the wrecked buildings. "Explosives didn't do this. Otherwise I would have said that Dragon's Tooth made it further than we expected."

Rishi looked at the Admiral through the hologram. "The Dragon's Tooth?"

"The team of commandos that went in with your Master, a group of seven commandos. They could be responsible for this, but..." he shook his head. "There's so sign of an explosion or external damage. That building was lifted from the ground and thrown back down."

Rishi examined the structure again, and found nothing to contradict the Admiral's solution. But lifting an entire building, if not by the Force, demanded some serious mechanical support. He'd never seen it done, but he'd visisted some of the large construction droids on Coruscant, immense giant robots that could redesign a building within days. But none of those were in sight.

"A Jedi did it."

Saul nodded. "So it would seem." He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Strange indeed. Look at it. You'd never think there was an army in there. All the ships are torn apart and the place itself is severly wrecked." He scratched his chin. "It looks the way we probably would have left it, a deserted battle zone. A cemetary."

Rishi agreed, and couldn't combat the hollow feeling inside of him. The repair yard looked dead, a ghost city devoid of light or motion. But nevertheless he knew there were still people down there, lurking in those dark corridors. People he couldn't wait to meet.

"So, how are we going to play this?"

Saul activated another switch and the projector displayed the terrain outside the repair yard, showing only a few buildings to the far left. "Within the next hour the _Masamune _will set down on the planet's surface, while the _Ronin _and the _Infinity _will remain in orbit. Our ground attack vehicles will be deployed here," he stabbed a finger into the hologram, "on this ridge. Seven thousand troops will join them, as well as a solid full wing of snowspeeders. The snowspeeders will perform a reconnaisance run of the station, testing it's defenses so to speak, see if we can draw any reactions from them. If they do, the ground forces will march upon the station and add support."

Rishi nodded. "And if they don't react?"

"Well, that's what we're hoping they'll do. Five gunships carrying five of our best special forces teams will approach the station, dock on its landing pads and take the station in close-range combat and secure the hostages."

Rishi found the plan weak at best, but they were working on possibilities and maybes. With no sure way of finding out what the terrorists had in terms of armament and defenses, their best option was to show their own force and come knocking on the front door.

"Where will I be?"

Saul punched another switch, bringing up a cross-section schematic of one of their gunships. "Gunship Four will be your way inside the station. Ulani will be on a separate gunship. Each of you will lead separate teams of commandos inside different parts of the station and capture it one structure at a time."

That idea Rishi liked, starting to feel his chest pound with excitement. "Good. Will you be commanding the army?"

Saul nodded. "Yes, from the bridge."

Rishi's head came up. "You're staying on the _Masamune_?"

"It's safest for all," he said.

Rishi tilted his head and made a mischievious smile. "Safest for you? Afraid to get your hands dirty, Admiral?"

Saul sighed. "Rishi, please realize, this could be a great trap. In case the army fails, in case the gunships and _you _fail, there is no option left than a bombardment from orbit." He held up a hand. "I _know _there are hostages down there, Rishi, I'm only acting on orders."

Rishi frowned. "You're an Admiral."

He shook his head. "I'm a just a playing piece. My only consolation is that, unlike a pawn, I do still command some pieces of my own." He leaned in over the desk, his face caught in the blue hologram. "This is why I wanted you along, Rishi, as well as the other Jedi. This assignement has dung written all over it. I need someone like you, someone more than a soldier, someone better than a commando, to make this succesful."

He was speaking right to Rishi's soul, such words of praise rare in his life. His Master had never condoned of his actions or his way, neither had the Senate. As such he doubted himself and his choices, since he didn't have a seal of approval from even his own Master. To hear the words from Admiral Saul warmed his heart, made him feel capable and important. Rishi could almost see himself winning the day on Regana, defeating the terrorists singlehandely and becoming a great hero, instead of an infamous rogue.

He could almost hear the cheering.

He smiled firmly. "I won't let you down, Admiral."

* * *

To some the Force was a thing of eternal wonder, a mystery never truly revealed. Some could spend lifetimes studying it, mastering it as they claimed, and never come close to understand the simplicity of it. Where most failed was in their desire to obtain a vision of the Force that was special, undiscovered, always searching for a truth that no one else had found. They did not understand that the Force wasn't a mystery, wasn't the great enigma behind the curtains of this world. It was a path, a very simple and easy path, but only if one learned to listen from a point of surrender, and not desire. 

_The most obvious answer is often the right one._

Jedi Master Raine was a very good listener; he'd learned decades ago in the Jedi Temple, that the Force was not a tool but a voice. It was the certainty that separated good from evil, unveiled any cloud that might cause one to mistrust their own judgement. It was the final say on right and wrong. Some were good at listening, but hadn't learned to trust the Force's simple answers, they tended to doubt it, or themselves based on what the Force seemed to ask of them.

Understanding that the Force was without limits was a lesson many tended to misinterpret. And more othen than not it was this prospect that led to corruption, the notion that one could do anything.

The Force did offer this choice, it's possibilities were never denied to anyone who mastered the art of manipulating it's energy. Any Jedi was free to choose to abuse it's reservoir of power, or to simply do it's bidding. Not many were able to restrain themselves from turning to abuse, which led to the Dark Side. Few understood what it meant to be a Jedi, to be a servant of justice and truth, to believe the Force's will was paramount.

Personal feelings or ideals were often the shatterpoints of a true Jedi, like those in the Sons of Destiny who manipulated the Force to enforce their own vision of justice and truth. Why the Force had chosen him to help them was a great puzzlement to him, why he had been told to help these obviously evil-doers, these fanatics, and, in some cases, _psychopaths_.

There were traces of good in all of them, but it was misguided good. General Riokon and his wife acted on a desire to wipe the slate clean for the Galaxy, to clear away any remnants of a past sure to repeat itself in the New Republic.

He had little theories, small angles that he kept locked inside of himself, that maybe he was the one who would stop their crusade, altough he was sworn in as a Son. He agreed with the notion that the Republic of today was ineffective, but firmly disbelieved slaughtering billions of people was needed to acheive such a template for a better society. Yet it seemed the Force was not ready to contradict that vision.

At least not yet.

The future confused him, it's path becoming more and more unclear. Two months earlier the Force was a straight line, one pure and without divergence, the same path he'd always walked. But since the appearance of the Kjoil clone, his escape and defeat, many things had changed. The Force had been enforced since his demise, but there was no clear path anymore. Raine had never felt so lost, never so betrayed and unsure. It seemed the path of him that he'd always followed had suddenly to come to an end, a ledge beyond which lied only darkness.

_This is where mistakes are made_, he thought to himself, _I've lost sight of my path. Anything could be a mistake._

Something had happened in the course of fate, the future once so clear had been severed from the present and the very Galaxy hung in the balance. Things were changing, something was happening by which even the Force could not ascertain the repercussions. Destiny was being altered and the fate of all was adapting. Jedi Master Raine was humble by nature, by his service to the Force, but without the guidance of the Force he was an empty vessel, a stray soul.

And for the first time, he was afraid.

The others didn't listen to the Force, they only pulled power from it, and as such they did not share his worry and loss of way. A reckless bunch they were, none of them truly understanding the ways of the Force as he did. They were selfish and idealistic, and worst of all; powerful. They in truth had the power to see their dark wills through, to make it a reality and the Force did nothing to stop them. How could it be? What was the Force trying to tell him?

All of them had given themselves to the Dark Side at some point, knowing it was a greater power, learning to use both sides of the Force to make themselves invincible. But they were able to dispel their dark emotions, none of them hungered for power or were blindly seduced by their emotions, judging by their own actions and words. They were patience itself. They only wanted to enforce what they believed to be a brighter future for the Galaxy.

And the Force had never once labeled them as an enemy. Could they truly be described as evil? Or was he a ghost of an older generation, too restricted by the tradition and views of old? Was he the stray, the blind? More and more he doubted himself. A lifetime ago he had been just a youngling training at the Jedi Temple, receiving instructions from Master Yoda himself. Many had regarded Yoda as a living embodiment of the Force, the wisest and strongest of them all, a clear symbol of how great power and responsiblity could come from the smallest of creatures.

But Jedi teachings had evolved greatly through the years of the Jedi Knights, many new discoveries had changed their evolution. Maybe now was such a time? Maybe now called for another way of thinking, the clean slate that the Sons of Destiny strived for. And if such was the Force's will he would follow it, albeit with a great worry in his old heart.

The last time the ways of the Force had to be reassessed, Darth Vader and the Emperor had all but wiped out every single Jedi in the Galaxy, and billions of lives were lost in the Clone Wars and the following civil war. He realized then he was still living by the dogma of old, the way the Jedi Knights in the Old Republic had firmly followed, one proven to be too narrow-minded and easily clouded.

If two Sith Lords could wipe out the Jedi and take control of the Galaxy, without ever a Jedi detecting the threat before it was too late, clearly it seemed the Force intended for it to happen, for reasons unknown.

He'd accepted the tragedy then, but he feared he would have to do it again. Such was his role as a servant, not to ask questions, only to obey. Only to trust. But with the voice in his heart gone, he felt blind and lost. And now was not a time where he could stand by and observe silently.

_Now is a time of war._

Jedi Master Raine used the Force to open the doors before him and his body moved with the slowness age had bestowed upon him over the years. He'd supplemented the weakness with a cane, instead of restoring his body's natural energy with the Force. He knew many viewed him as a bothersome old weakling, a ghost looking for a place to die.

But the Force, as fading as it had become, was still vibrant in his old bones. He knew his strength laid in his understanding and loyalty to the Force, and as such did not fear death. When the time was right, once his service was complete, he would transform into the Force without regret.

Beyond the doors, at the ground level of the largest structure, was the grandest of Hope's Haven's hangars, filled to the brim with the last of their soldiers, those not killed by the escaped prisoner. He came to a halt, supporting his body with one hand against the railing of the half circled dais. Though his height did not allove him to look over the railing, instead he regarded the soldiers on the hangar floor below through the middle of its rungs.

He released a sigh, one coming from more than just fatigue, one brought on by all the worries in his small body. And as of lately, it still did not remove the tension he felt in every fiber of his being. The idea of having an army at his disposal had never meant anything to him. It was not a comfort or a strength to him, armies did not signify power.

The ability to create war was not a greatness. It always brought a sadness to his heart, to know these loyal soldiers existed only to fight and die, caught in a scheme they could never never see the way he could. They were pieces in a puzzle, a puzzle that no one knew what looked like finished.

"Even without your leash - "

Raine turned around faster than anyone would have guessed his old body was capable of, his green lightsaber ignited in a flash, aimed at the throat of the one who'd snuck up behind him.

" - you are still a slave," Eknath finished.

Raine's face became a snarl, infuriated by Eknath's love for invading private moments, and private thoughts. Among them all he disliked the telepath the most, for his reckless and brutal behaviour, for all his gloating and infatuation with himself, for all the pure dark evil inside of him that the Force had never once asked Raine to destroy.

Raine lowered his saber, wary of its pitched hum. He could feel some of the soldiers beneath the dais reacting to the scene. "Master Eknath," he said as respectfully as he could manage, pushing aside his deep loathing of the perverse genius.

For that he was, a Master beyond doubt. And Raine considered it a cruel fate that such power had been bestowed upon one so dark. He knew that Eknath had once been a Jedi Master before the Clone Wars, just as Raine himself had been, yet their paths had never crossed. In the good moments they'd shared, although rare, they had shared many stories and comparisons about the old Jedi Temple and it's inhabitants. Both of them had admitted to once have stood before Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and not sensed anything out of place.

Raine turned back to the railing, and Eknath moved to stand beside him, his spidery hands hidden inside the sleeves of his gray robe, a devious smile on his lips as he looked across the sea of soldiers beneath them. He chuckled to himself, bristling with dark joy at the many souls he could manipulate, his scarred face beaming with excitement.

Raine always felt hazy around Master Eknath, his darkness so powerful it sent black sickening waves through the small Jedi Master. "A slave does not choose the leash or his master, Prophet," Raine said out the corner of mouth. "And only a fool fears blindness, when all his days are filled with darkness."

Eknath's joy was undiminished. "I see you remain a master of wits, even though the Force has left you astray."

Raine shook his head slowly. "Those who are led astray, are those who don't see the signs right in front of them. And even this sign I will decipher with time."

Eknath's face soured, and those black scars across his face seemed to darken. "To discover truth is an individual journey, and it demands choice."

Raine couldn't help bring out a small smile. Eknath's attempt to out-philosophize him always came off weak, and only reinforced Raine's belief that beneath all Eknath's strength and bravado was a small child that desired greatly to admired for his wisdom. Depriving him of that was one of Raine's greatest joys. "I _choose _to wait for truth."

The man's face darkened even more, clearly annoyed he couldn't break Raine's spirit. "Truth does not linger - "

"Tell me," Raine said, confident that his victory was already won, "what really happened to Joon, _Master _Eknath?"

The telepath's face turned away with great fury, his jaw clenching, knowing he'd lost. Eknath held up his right palm, stared into it and flexed his fingers. "When the ysalamiri cages were raised, the Force-bubble released Joon of my mind-control. He attacked me, but without the Force he was still just a fifteen year old boy. But he wouldn't stop," Eknath's voice became very grim, almost sad, "he just wouldn't stop thrashing. I clawed out his eyes to save myself, and sealed up the wound with the lightsaber once the Force was restored."

Raine had suspected that incident had been less controlled than Eknath had first implied. Sensing Joon's spirit in the Force was that of a very conflicted individual, beneath all Eknath's control. "Interesting, his first reflex was to kill you."

Eknath shrugged indifferently. "Don't pretend to be surprised. I wasn't."

Raine looked up at him. "You're not even sad that he hated you? That he _hates _you?"

Eknath's eyes seemed distant, devoid of presence. "He is not an apprentice in the traditional senses, the kinds we all trained in the Old Republic. We're at war now, we need soldiers, bodyguards, tools that we can manipulate. We don't have time for attachment. We have a responsibility to the world, that is our heritage, and the Galaxy's restored peace will be our legacy." He blinked and the old Eknath was back, dark and sinister. "Don't tell me, my little Jedi friend, that your apprentice is any different?"

Raine thought of Ragh, a dumb beast as far as others were concerned. Once, while in service to the Republic, Raine had been sent on a peace mission to the Caludaa system. A hundred year peace between two co-existing races had turned into war and Raine was the Jedi the Council had sent to mediate.

He managed to forge peace between the two races again, but not without having to fight for it. He'd befriended and saved the life of Ragh, part of a large beast-like but sentient race. Caludaans resembled the Wookies on Kashyyyk more than any other race, they believed in life-debts and Ragh had proudly accepted to become Raine's bodyguard.

Ragh was not the dumb beast everyone suspected, but neither was he intelligent on a human level. Raine considered him a loyal friend, a son even, and he'd trained the creature to understand certain aspects of the Force. When Raine had escaped the Jedi Purge he'd secluded himself in exile on Caludaa, waiting for the Force to guide him again. When Riokon and his ships arrived to Caludaa, it had been Eknath that had brought them there to find him. Raine had rode out to meet them on Ragh's back.

Always keeping his eyes on the future, ever wary of things to come, the first thing he'd said was; _what took you so long?_

Raine smiled at the memory, remembering the history between him and Ragh. Ragh was a fond companion, the closest thing he would ever have to a son. And it was all he needed beside the Force. Ragh had given himself to a life of service, just as Raine had. Together they lived to serve the same thing; loyalty to something greater than themselves. The others could frown at his choice of apprentice all they wanted, he knew the soft humble kind nature that was Ragh's soul.

"Don't bother yourself with Ragh, Master Eknath," Raine said slyly, touching a side of himself he rarely showed, "people who do usually end up dead."

Eknath's eyes tightened but he pressed the subject no futher. "Finality and Gravity; an awesome match."

Raine frowned on the inside. "Any report on the Republic fleet?"

Eknath's eyes sparkled, untarnished evil pouring from his smile. "One of the SDs is approaching the atmosphere. Seems it will be a surface attack, after all."

Raine had always known very little of Riokon's grand plan in itself, Riokon kept the details to himself and his wife, sharing only that which could not be comprimised. When they'd last conferred, Riokon had ordered them to go to the highest peak of the station once the Republic armada had touched ground, but for reasons unknown.

And Raine needed no explanation, he didn't need to know the finner details of the plot. He listened to a higher duty. If Riokon told him to go to the top of the control center and the Force didn't warn him of any danger, that's where he'd be.

"Does it ever occur to you," Eknath spoke slow and deep, "that our fearless leader...is not quite so fearless?"

Raine sensed a plot, a trick in Eknath's words. "Riokon is a strong man, a wise man, a powerful Jedi."

Eknath nodded slightly. "He _was _powerful, but he is broken."

Raine looked up at the taller Eknath.

"You saw it too. He hid it well, but you must have sensed it. His encounter with the escaped prisoner left him humbled, afraid," Eknath's lips curled in disgust, "_weak_."

Raine admitted that. For all the times he'd heard Riokon speak of facing his former Master, he understood that the General was dissapointed he had not only lost the battle, but also been stripped of a rematch. Young Krych had been the one to that vanquished the clone, an unexpected turn of events but perhaps for the better.

But Eknath's way of describing Koll and his nature startled Raine. For all the time he'd spent within the Sons of Destiny, despite their intentions and alligiance to the Dark Side, he had begun to care for most of them. Espicially Koll and his wife, as well as the young Krych. And over time they had become the family that Koll had wanted the army to be. They were brothers, sons, fathers and mothers.

At Junn's departure from the army and subsequent exile, she had made the first fracture in their ranks, showing their unit was not as invulnurable as they'd thought. Krych's injury and Sonnet's mysterious death had also left gaps. The family was falling apart; there was mistrust, lies, and deceit.

No one knew where Koll and Sasa were hiding but they hadn't showed for a long time. And with the unit's unraveling Raine began to feel unsafe. It was hard for him to see it all fall apart around him.

Raine felt dishonest. "As I told you before, everyone fails at some point. At his heart, Koll means well. A humbled man is a careful man."

Eknath smirked. "Planetary obliteration...doesn't require much care," he chuckled menacingly and started to walk from one side of the dais to the other. "Soon Coruscant will be another dead moon, another ash-strewn warzone. The beginning and the end."

Raine let the words pass over him, not giving them enough attention so that they might provoke images in his head. How Riokon planned to destroy Coruscant was another part of the plan that was confidential. And that bothered Raine not at all.

He shook his head, realizing he'd been staring at nothing ever since Eknath had joined him. The army still stood splayed out before him, perfect rows of black polished armor, weapons at the ready, all of them waiting to fight. He could smell the excitement off them, feel the snakes coiling in the stormachs of some, taste the impatience of others.

And for the first time it provoked a smile from his lips. A time long ago he'd stood before the very same army and felt fear for the Republic's ability to combat the Sons of Destiny. But not any more. He smiled because more than half of the twenty-thousand soldiers he'd seen back then weren't present now. He had the dead clone to thank for that.

* * *

Pain. 

The pain was like a million spears stabbing through every part of his body. He could hear it even, like the searing sound of burning flesh, constantly repeating itself in his ears. He couldn't be sure if he was alive, yet he had conciousness. He could think. But he couldn't think clearly. Pain was pulling at his every thought, always leading his mind away from a conclusion that would explain what had happened to him.

He remembered fire.

He remembered hearing the vhroniks howling.

He remembered -

- _the prisoner_. The Dark Jedi that had fought him outside in the snow. His mind filled with anger and hatred and he lashed out into the liquid nothingness that surrounded him. He was caged and trapped and he wanted to be free. He had to save Junn, she was still alive, he'd felt it. He had to save her.

_Release me! _

He screamed, but he wasn't sure he was vocalizing the sound.

_Set me free!_

No answer came, only more pain. Terrifying pain. But he bit it down. Junn needed him. He tried to remember how he opened his eyes, such a simple unconcious act seemed impossible. All he could see was darkness and a flimsy image of Junn's body lying in the midst of fires.

_SOMEONE HELP ME!_

He thrashed about in his weak state, fighting to sever himself from this blackness that had swallowed him. And then some light. A small light growing before his eyes. Slowly his eyes opened and he stared into a waving, unsolidified image of a droid standing before him, a medical droid, the kind with a face that distubingly reminded of a human porcelain doll.

His skin slowly felt the liquid that covered him, felt the breathing apperatus stuffed into his throat, making him want to puke. He was trapped in bacta, a gelatinous liquid that healed wounds, commonly used everywhere in the Galaxy.

Once his arms started to respond as they once did, he slammed his fists against the glass, screaming with all his soul.

The droid outside was talking, he could see that much but he couldn't hear it. He didn't care. He didn't care about his own health. He just wanted to be free, free so he could find Junn. He knew where she was, he knew she was in danger. He was the only one who could help her.

The glass finally buckled and a spiderweb pattern of cracks began to form outward from where his fists landed. Finally the glass broke, spewing bacta on the droid and the floor in front of the cylinder. The rest of the glass shattered and Krych tore the apperatus from his mouth and once enough bacta had left the cylinder for his feet to touch the floor, he stepped outside of it.

The droid instantly protested. "Sir, your wounds are not healed - "

He wouldn't hear it. He punched the droid aside with all his anger, smashing it against the wall. He took another step, but his feet slipped and his body slammed down into the bacta-covered floor.

He cried out in pain, pieces of glass cutting through every corner of his body, but the pain wouldn't die. He bit his jaws together and placed his hands on the floor at his sides and started to push himself up, screaming in agony all the way.

And then he saw it.

His reflection in the bacta on the silvery floor. A face deeply scared beyond human features. It was a miracle, or a grotesque insult of fate, that he was still alive. A sickening face that stood out from the rest of his pale skin, with flesh as yellow and purple as the horizon of a setting sun. A face bulging with deep sores, pieces of ash dropping from his jaws as his mouth trembled.

In several places the face had been sown together crudely, deviding the face into four pieces of dead scorched flesh. The lips were gone, the nose devoid of flesh enough that bone could almost been seen. The eyes, although the eyelids themselves were gone, remained the only features that still appeared intact, stared back at himself with absolute terror.

He scared himself to death.

Bile filled his throat and puking his guts out on the floor, covering that hidious image, was all that saved his sanity.

* * *

Once the _Masamune _started piercing through the outer layers of Regana's atmosphere, Rishi left the Admiral to his planning and went looking for Kal. Through the Force he learned the young man was back in their chambers. Strodding through the halls of the ship he passed many officers and technicians, all of them crisp and perfect in their uniforms. He realized how much he must have stood out, wearing his black cloak and moving through the halls like a mirror image of the late Darth Vader. 

Many stood aside or changed their stride once they saw him, and the realization of this always brought a dark smile to his lips. He liked knowing others didn't know what to make of him, even feared him. It gave him a sense of control, to know he already struck fear in the hearts of others by pure appearance. It was the most subtle of powers and the easiest to master.

Every soul he passed turned into lines in the Force, links between them and other parties that would hear the story about him wandering like a ghost through the ship. An endless flood of information would move through the ship faster than electricity and soon all would know about him. And although it fed his ego, his confidence, his recent discoveries changed the face of that power.

Rarsk Dokyan had changed his life.

He'd always harbored thoughts and doubts about the Republic's ability to govern correctly, often feeling they turned a blind eye to many of the obvious problems right in front of them. If it was inability to change things or simply ignorance, he couldn't really discern. All he knew, all he'd always known in his guts, was that something wasn't functioning the way it should.

Rarsk Dokyan had showed him why.

An unrest coiled in his belly, a pulling tension. Who could he trust? Could he trust anyone? Who hadn't been affected by the Sons of Destiny? Who was outside their reach? Was he going to destroy their corruption or was he already a part of it? He couldn't know for certain he wasn't acting on their will already, that maybe all of the events unfolding around him had been planned for some design he couldn't yet fathom.

It was there, in the eyes of every being he passed. Every gaze looked mischivous to him, every person seemed to stare too long, or look away too fast. Everyone was a suspect. He wanted to trust the Force, but the Force had betrayed him before. It hadn't shown him the deception.

Or maybe...maybe the Force had shown him the deception now so he could end it. It was all he could believe. Impatience wouldn't benifit his mission, and it would only weaken his connection to the Force. He had to trust the Force would not betray him, and chose to believe that the Force had waited for him to be ready for this challenge before revealing the deception. The logic was frail, but it gave him some reassurance and some feeling of pride.

The doors to his living quarters opened and Rishi stepped inside, casting one quick glance over his shoulder just before the doors closed, checking to see if anyone was watching him go in, to see maybe the top of a head behind a corner going into cover as he faced them. He saw nothing out of the ordinary before the doors sealed behind him.

_You're being paranoid_, he told himself, _not everyone is being used or a traitor._

He turned his eyes forward to see Kal meditating on the floor in the center of a circular depression of the room, one they'd used for sparing occasionally. The training ring they'd dubbed it. Kal sat in a perfect posture, feet folded inwards, his fingers shaped like a triangle at his waist, breathing in perfect rhythm.

Rishi felt bad about intruding on Kal's meditation, until he remembered the fact that if the man was meditating it meant he already knew Rishi was there. Neither Rishi nor Master Skar had cared much for meditating. Master Skar had always insisted that he learned nothing through meditation, that it didn't ease his mind or expand on his knowledge of the Force. All he got was a steady feeling of peace that only lasted for as long as he was under.

All Rishi ever got from meditation was a sore forehead, when he fell asleep and usually banged his head on the nearest table.

Rishi hugged himself and waited patiently for Kal to return to the world of the living and breathing. Through their time together, their adventures on Coruscant, they'd slowly become friends. And although they didn't talk about it, Rishi had found his first apprentice in the young Ulani. Rishi knew he couldn't teach Kal everything, and Kal's training was already so lacking that it was an uphill battle, but with every five failures there was one victory.

Kal was rash, arrogant, easily offended, but still eager for knowledge as long as it fit his assumptions about the Force. Rishi also knew that he was afraid some of his Kjoil techniques and methods would rub off on young Kal, perhaps driving him closer to the Dark Side. But Rishi liked the idea of advancing his own knowledge, and to help someone he considered a friend to find peace in a world that offered none.

Rishi stretched out with his mind and touched Kal's. There were images, faint and flickering. Painful memories that repeated themselves, connecting with Kal's own internal monologue, his mind fighting to prove a point to a side of himself that turned to self-deprevation too easily. Kal was thinking about his former Master, a Master whom had died not too long ago.

The two of them couldn't have been a better match, Rishi thought. Both of them had sorrow close to their hearts and both of them were looking for ways to grow and to find a path. When he'd first met Kal he'd instantly disliked him, but through their time together he'd come to realize how closely they resembled each other.

Which put his previous dislike in a rather sad light; meeting someone just like himself and he'd immediately disliked him? Rishi supposed meeting himself was a quick lesson in _fixing _himself.

He could feel Kal blaming himself, and although Rishi didn't know the details of the Master's death he knew such feelings were easy to provoke once you were already there. He reached out and soothed Kal's mind.

_Do not center on the past, Kal, and do not worry about the future. All you have is the moment. It is only now that you can change anything, it is only now that you can make a difference. Learn from your mistakes, but don't beat them to death._

Kal's eyes opened slowly and met Rishi's across the room.

_Put aside your thoughts, and learn to feel. Learn to trust what the Force tells you, learn to trust the events it shows you. Don't calculate, don't speculate, feel. Listen to the voice inside your heart, it cannot betray you._

Kal slowly rose from his seating and unclipped his lightsaber, preparing to train with Rishi. Rishi brought his lightsaber forth too, and took the first steps down into the training ring.

"Do not strategize, do not think ahead. Do nothing besides giving yourself to the moment and let the Force guide your hands," Rishi's lightsaber snapped to life with its throbbing hum and blue glow, "let yourself become one with it. You and your lightsaber are not removed from each other, it is not a weapon in your hands. It is an extension of yourself."

Kal's lightsaber also shimmered to life in mid-swirl, instantly in a defensive stance. His eyes showed confidence and strength, but no will, which was good. No battle, in practice or otherwise, should be fought from the soul. Combat to a Jedi, when inevitable, should never come from a will, but from the Force.

Kal stood poised for combat, but it was the Force that governed his moves, and not himself. Rishi reached Kal's level in the ring and set himself. Kal bowed his head slightly, his eyes never leaving Rishi who copied the gesture.

Like two currents of power, two powerful waves of water, they crashed against each other in an instant and chaotic flurry of lightsaber combat. They were equal, but their powers came from two distinct different areas of the Force. Kal was strong and fast, but Rishi was sly in his fighting style. He fought with a desire to surprise, to trick. He used many feints and subtle moves which could be easily changed into a dangerous strike if the chance revealed itself.

"The will of the Force is not a carefully laid plan," Rishi explained as they fought, "it is the sense and logic in ourselves that create an awareness in which the Force responds to us."

Together they danced to a song-less rhythm, their swords spinning and thrashing in what might have seemed chaotic and improvised to the outside viewer. Rishi surrendered fully to the Force and he could almost stand outside of himself and watch as it happened. He could see himself and Kal battling each other with great accuracy, Kal having an upper hand since he was fully rested from his meditation.

The image was faint and dreamy, because he could see both the present, past and future of this fight. He could see where it would end, where it had began and where it was. Cloud-like trails followed their movements, showing where they had begun and where they were heading.

"Merging with us, we are the eyes of the Force, it's very sword and shield."

Kal's strength had greatly improved since the recent surge in the Force. Whatever it was, the young Jedi was taking full advantage of it. Rishi couldn't help worrying about him, Kal was a Dark Side devotee wating to happen. All the signs were there, and Rishi doubted his abilities to keep him locked on the path of light. Kal seemed meant for it, and Rishi only hoped if the day should come that they would be far away.

"There is no tomorrow in the Force, no grand design, no prophecies. There is only the moment. If we center on our worries regarding the future, we lose the moment, and lose our vigilance."

Kal leapt above a low swipe, backflipping to a stand above the depression, resting for just a second before rejoining the fray. Their blades crackled and snarled, never apart for more than a breath.

"The future we may desire to see, that the Force may wish for us to acheive, is created solely in the moment." Rishi felt like he was channeling some old Jedi Master, relaying a wisdom he couldn't claim to see so easily. His mind hadn't settled in yet, he had yet to find the calm that he understood Jedi strove for.

Maybe it was impossible for a Kjoil to find it, being so easy to unrest and dark. Master Skar never found it, he knew. But nevertheless he understood the wisdom of the words. Filling your time and mind with thoughts about a possible or impossible future was a waste of time. The future you wish for _could _someday happen, but the journey between acheiving it and envisioning it was so immense that when the future finally arrived, you wouldn't notice the change. Life would always move forward, whether you wanted it to or not.

Tearing him away from introspection Kal's blade fell upon Rishi's unready guard, the Jedi manipulated his own blade around in a masterful disarming technique, straining Rishi's wrist. The hilt was removed from Rishi's fingers, clanging on the floor, and Kal stabbed forth the blue blade, the tip of it resting an inch beneath Rishi's chin.

He could still hear his hilt rolling on the floor over the intense hum of Kal's threatning weapon, it's bright beam almost blinding him. Rishi swallowed, holding his hands out. "Nice work."

Kal grinned. "Must stir something in you, seeing a Jedi catch you off your guard."

Rishi smirked. "Unless that was what I wanted."

Kal's eyes widened -

Rishi waved his hand and Kal flew away as if struck by a powerful fist. He dropped down ten feet away, groaning.

Rishi calmly called the lightsaber to his hand. "If you seize the advantage, never hesitate. Don't think you've won until your enemy is vanquished."

Kal jumped to a stand, his cheeks blushing slightly with embarassment. "Got ya," embarassment soon bred anger. "Damn, that's my real weakness. I want my enemy to know he's beaten. Headstrong like a dewback."

Rishi laughed. "Don't beat yourself up about it. You're learning. Better you learn it here than the hard way."

Kal juggled his lightsaber hilt back and forth. "You learned a lot the hard way?"

Rishi nodded. "Being a Jedi _is _the hard way."

The lightsaber stopped moving in Kal's hand. "But you're not a Jedi. The Kjoil is an easier way of training, an easier approach to wielding the Force."

Rishi dropped down on his rear, sitting on the highest stair of the depression. "There are no easy ways in understanding the Force, Kal. I learned Jedi techniques first, their method of thinking. Kjoil power allows me to gain understanding at a faster rate, because it comes as a second nature to my instincts and my soul. But most of what I've learned, other than the basics, I learned on my own."

Kal looked dumbfound. "On your own?"

Rishi cradled his lightsaber in his hands, leaning his elbows on his knees. "He taught me the ropes and led me in, but he was a very distracted indivual, Kal. You have to understand; he came to too much power too fast. His Master forced his Knightship because of outside implications. Master Skar was taking up all he could hold, but in doing so it blocked him from outside impressions. For example the fact that his very own friend was a clone, and that the clone was scheming towards dangerous paths." Rishi nodded to himself. "He was my Master, but he was still a student in many ways."

Kal clipped his lightsaber to the belt. "Okay, you've just never said that before."

Rishi pulled in breath, seeking to ease the tension in his chest. "There were only two trained Kjoil, now there's only one. The other one died, long before he could find the true way of Kjoil methods and power. Now there's just me," he smiled apprenhensively, "and I have nowhere to begin. Haven't the slightest of clues."

Kal seemed sad for Rishi. "I guess I hadn't thought of that. I was jealous of Kjoil power, of you and your unlimited access. I guess it never occured to me that you were merely scratching the surface."

Rishi shrugged. "Scratching the surface...but how do I know it's the right surface?"

Kal started to answer but both their comlinks twitched at that moment. Rishi had a feeling what the message was long before Kal read it.

The Jedi's face paled. "We're in position. The ground teams have already touched down. The Admiral wants us downstairs."

Rishi nodded slowly, his eyes on the floor. He felt like he should say something, him and Kal would be separated once they were on the planet, and Kal would have to fend for himself and think for himself. Though Kal had risen himself from first impressions, Rishi still found himself worrying about the Jedi. He'd even go so far as to say he cared about him. Kal had become a friend somewhere along their adventures together, though Rishi had never thought it possible. Maybe that was all he wanted to say, _don't get yourself killed_.

"Kal, whatever happens down there - "

The Jedi put away his comlink, nodding his head. "I know, I know. Stay mindful and focused."

"No," Rishi said, standing up and walking over to place a hand on the Jedi's shoulder, "you _have _what it takes, Kal. You mustn't doubt yourself. We both need to let go of our pasts. Neither of us can have our Masters back. I wish I didn't feel so strongely about coming here, because I have many doubts about what I'll actually find. But I know I have to. To let go of him. I rely on you as much as you rely on me to get through this. I consider you a friend, at long last - "

Kal chuckled at that

" - And friends are equal," Rishi finished and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and handed it to Kal, and Kal likewise gave his to Rishi. it was a bonding between Jedi to exchange sabers, it was a symbol of laying their lives in the hands of others, and also a hope of reunion.

Kal clipped Rishi's lightsaber to his belt, smiled confidently and nodded. "I appreciate that, Rishi."

"We're more than friends, Kal. We're linked by something greater. We're brothers of the Force, and brothers look out for each other." Rishi bowed his head. "Don't get yourself killed, alright?"

"I won't," Kal said determined.

Rishi smiled. "Or at least stay alive long enough so I can have a rematch."

"You're on." Kal smirked. "As long as I get my own saber for that, sure."

Rishi raised his eyebrows in jest. "You got a problem with my blade, Kal?"

Kal shrugged jokingly. "It's two grams heavy on the back end, the power source's only half full, the emitter's sorely outdated, and the color is slightly off." He grinned. "Or maybe I'm just worried the shiny silver finish will get in my eyes."

Rishi tilted his head. "I don't think you need to worry about that."

"Oh?"

Rishi shook his head. "You'd never even get the thing ignited before _I _got in your eyes."

* * *

The click and vibrating hum of the droid's scanner filled the barely-functional medical center. Light fixtures were going in and out, some of them entirely dead. A shattered bacta tank sat in the far back of the room. Thoroughly the medical droid moved it's arm down the height of it's patient, reading every limb and internal organ for defects. 

Raine sat slumbed on the floor nearby, his eyes open but distant from the room around him. The twist of his lips was caused by his inertia and unsettled feelings. And even with his back to the telepath, Raine could feel the nefarious smile on Eknath's face who stood behind him in the shadows of the room. The entire room was thick with the Dark Side, leaving Raine feeling cold and fragile.

The droid finished its readings and turned around to face them both. "All internal organs are in perfect condition, and apart from the patient's head the remaining burn wounds are healing properly." The droid shut down it's scanner. "Although the patient has refused further treatment, without it his facial wounds will not mend." The droid hesitated, uploading an empathy application for it's vocalization unit. "I'm sorry, but he will die if he doesn't receive the proper treatment."

Raine wouldn't face the monster sitting in chair in the center of the room, wouldn't look the man in the eyes. He'd known Krych from he was just a youngling, could still remember the boy's cheery nature as a youth. The abomnination that rested in that chair, was not Krych the loyal. And yet...loyalty seemed to be the only thing that remained unchanged inside the boy's soul. But its parameters had changed.

Eknath rubbed his chin, his eyes fixated firmly on the creature before him, spotting potential where others would turn away in fear, always scheming. The plotting grin on his face seemed to grew wider by the minute. "Excellent," his snake-like voice hissed, excusing the droid, "leave us."

The droid was perplexed, expecting a request for more treatment to it's patient. "Sir, I think you've misunderstood my meaning. Without - "

"I," Eknath's red eyes beamed with anger, "understood _perfectly_."

The droid nodded quickly and made for a hasty retreat. "Very well, sir. Excuse me." The droid jittered away and exited the room as fast as it's bulky legs would allow.

Raine stared at a segment of the floor by his feet, mourning the boy he'd once known. He could hear the monster breathing, a soft hollow rush of air that whispered like daggers in his ear. In the Force he could sense Krych's eyes moving around the room and feared greatly their link as they fell upon Raine himself. Small as he was, he felt like a distant bright star put up against a ravenous sun.

"Why such sorrow?" the monster asked through charred lips, in a voice so deep and venomous that every stretched syllable seemed to erase all shred of the boy he'd once been. "I thought you'd come to congratulate me."

Raine fought back the tears, closing his eyes shut and tried to remember the boy before his mind's eye. "You...feel blessed, do you?"

Krych had destroyed the medical station he'd awoken in, the bacta cylinder and the droid that had watched over him. He'd fashioned a mask from it's white porcelain doll-like face, which now covered the worst of his burnt face.

What hair that had not been touched by flamed had been shaven down to a bare scalp, horrible scars stretching out from beneath the rim of the mask, and although he knew he was mistaken Raine couldn't help imagining those scars were slowly growing, as though alive by themselves and doing their best to cover all of Krych's head.

The ears were gone, but the mask reached around his face well enough to disguise that fact. The perfectly oval mask itself provided only slits for eyes and mouth, and no bulge sat where his nose would have been if it was still a part of his face.

His breathing came out hollow from inside the mask, his lungs still damaged from the inhalation of too much smoke while he'd been unconscious inside the flames. Bloodshot eyes moved back and forth slowly, dazed almost, and shiny white teeth contrasted eerily with the burnt black flesh of his lips when he spoke.

"I died and was reborn. Is that not cause for celebration?"

"Certainly," Eknath exclaimed enthustiasticly. "how are we to be anything less than thrilled to have our greatest warrior, returned from the netherworld?"

Krych moved his face slowly, every motion stretching sore and damaged nerves. "Back, but not to a clean slate. I took questions with me to the other side, and the fire did not burn them away along with my face." His voice was sharp as a bloodied blade. "The man who attacked me...is dead?"

Raine hugged himself. "The vhroniks left little behind."

When the monster smiled, it brought no joy to those who were there to catch it. "Then the Kjoil menace is dead. His apprentice will surely perish along with the rest of Coruscant." Krych nodded. "And Junn?"

The tension deepened, a cloud rolling over the faces of Eknath and Raine. Eknath hurried to answer. "Unknown."

Krych's eyes locked on to Eknath. "_Unknown_?" He twitched in his chair. "She was alive when I left her."

Eknath rephrased. "Her whereabouts are unknown, but we do know she is alive. It's safe to assume she must have sustained some damage or injury, but for the time she has exiled herself, hiding somewhere within the facility - "

"Hiding!" Krych snarled. "How many patrols are out looking for her!"

Raine shivered. "None. We are respecting her solitude, her choice to leave her service." He finally looked up at the monster. "And so will you."

The monster's eyes burned inside those slits, his entire body starting to tremble with fury. His fingers dug into his palms, drawing blood. "You are in no condition to force orders upon me, Master Raine," his eyes shifted, "or you, Master Eknath." His knees slowly straightened and he stood, tall and steady, a truly menacing figure. His fingers stretched at his hips, energy and knowledge flowing into the tips of his fingers like tiny receptors. "I can still sense her...she is hurt...but not dying. She's waiting for someone, or something."

Eknath tilted his head. "Something you can give her?"

The monster's head bowed slightly. "No," he admitted. "Not yet." His mask came up again. "And there is a battle approaching. The Republic has arrived."

Raine was impressed. "You've grown stronger with the Force to be able to see this."

"They will launching their troop carriers any minute, their ground support vehicles are already in place. Their entire army. Thousands of soldiers," he muttered, "and something else."

Eknath's red eyes flashed. "Something else?"

"Yes," Krych whispered, his eyes scanning the horizons of the Force. "The Kjoil apprentice is coming."

Raine's senses suddenly came alive, seeing parts of a future again, but too indistinct to make a conclusion. "He's right. The last Kjoil is coming. Coming for revenge."

Krych was walking across the floor of the room, without any chosen destination, lost in the Force and his own mind. "He brings death, death to us all." The hollowness of his voice through the mask made the words sound even more terrifying. "The Kjoil apprentice...and the prisoner was the clone of Skind Kjoil."

Both Raine and Eknath suppressed their initial shock. There was no obvious way that Krych could have known that the prisoner was infact the clone of Skind Kjoil. Riokon himself had gone to great trouble to keep that information from the young man. Raine could think of no other way than the young Loyalty having learned the connection from the Force itself.

Rishi changed his aimless heading and started to close in on Eknath. "And Sonnet was taken from us, I sensed him in the clone's soul. I heard his voice in my heart," Krych stopped in front of Eknath, the white mask glaring upon the telepath. "He was taken...or perhaps...given?"

Eknath started to scowl, his red eyes beaming a furiosity that did not weaken even in the face of a monster. "Are you threatning me, boy?"

Krych's sinister laugh was horrible. "Threats are a waste of time." Krych's left hand reached out behind him and Raine's lightsaber flew from inside his cloak to meet Krych's fingers. The blade bathed the room in a verdent glow and Krych slammed the blade down -

Raine closed his eyes.

- but the green blade was intersected mere centimeters from Eknath's face by a red blade. Krych snarled in anger as Tragedy stepped fully from the shadows behind his Master. Eknath chuckled, staring victoriously at Krych through the crossed blades. Krych pressed the blade against Tragedy's but the boy's grip offered no lenity.

"Did you forget yourself..._Loyalty_?" Eknath mocked Krych by putting his face even closer to the nexus of red and green lightsaber. "Your woman waits for you...but you cannot be idle. There is a battle to be fought. And you are the new commander. The army needs you, Loyalty, to lead them."

The red and green cast highlights upon Krych's mask. "You betrayed us, Eknath!"

The telepath snickered imperviously, but shook his head. "No. You don't know the truth yet. And there is no time to explain now. The army is waiting for you. Any minute now this place will be infested with Republic presence. Finality and I are needed elsewhere. After we've fended off the enemy I will give you all the answers you want. For now, let me only assure you; I am no traitor."

Krych stayed locked with Joon for a handful of breaths longer, but finally disengaged, a resentful angry frown remaining beneath his mask. Joon kept his blade active while Krych tossed the borrowed handle back to Raine. The hilt dropped from the air, pulled by invisible magnets into Raine's grip.

"After the war, then."

"Yes," Eknath confirmed, "then we'll talk."

Krych smiled, a look in his eyes that hinted he wasn't at all interested in _talking_. "After the war."

Eknath's eyes squinted as though he caught the message clearly, but avoided delving deeper into the matter. He bowed before Krych and with Joon defending his back they both left the chamber. Raine checked his lightsaber carefully before securing it to his belt. He knew he was alone with the monster now, and the thought stirred his bravery and strength.

"You don't need to fear me, Master Raine," their backs were turned against each other, "I sense no treachery in you."

Raine's brows lifted. "No treachery?"

Krych nodded, still staring at the surface of the door Eknath had gone through. "Since my accident, I've grown stronger. The equilibrium is not solely responsible. The loss of my face has given me great pain on several levels, a pain that has strengthened me in the Dark Side." Krych's hands made fists. "I _burn_, Master Raine. The fire that took my face is not extinquished. It lives on in my skin, my soul. I am alight inside, _burning _brightly. I can...I can see connections."

Raine shuffled in his seating on the floor to look upon Krych's naked back. "Connections?"

Krych turned sideways, but wouldn't meet Raine's eyes. "Threads of influence. Connections between individuals who've had contact, who've met, who've made plans together. I see them...like rainbows emitting from the person in the Force. I can't _not _see it, the fires took my eyelids and I cannot look away. I saw Eknath's threads, but there are so many of them I cannot decipher it all."

Raine could almost imagine it was Krych talking, almost sense a remnant of the boy still in him. "Someone so young, shouldn't carry so much power. It could unmake you."

The mask moved slowly towards Raine. "I am already unmade, there's nothing in me now but Loyalty."

Raine nodded. "But...not the same loyalty as before."

Krych stood still for many breaths and when he finally spoke, his voice was somber. "I will finish my service to the Sons of Destiny, as I once swore. If I am still alive by the time this is over..." his mask looked away. "Well, future has a way of finding us faster than we like." The mask nodded to himself. "For the first time in more than forty years there is no future. The moment is all we have now, Master Raine," Krych moved back towards the doorway and the doors slid open as he approached. "We must trust the Force."

Raine rose and watched Krych walk away. "Forty years? What are you talking about?"

"Come, Master," Krych's hollow voice resonated back from the hallway, "we have a war to fight, and a Galaxy to reshape."

* * *

As soon as the sensation and emotions of the _Masamune_'slargest hangar reached him, Rishi felt like every step he took forward should have been backward. The hangar of the _Masamune _was bustling with activity like the inside of an anthill, troopers marching to their ships, equipment being packed, orders shouted at the top of lungs. And at the center of it all he walked determined towards his own ship, doing his best to drown out the riot of emotions flooding over him. It really only dawned on him then what he was about to embark upon, and the Admiral's words came back to him. 

_You're not afraid?_

_Fear gets me nowhere. I am here because I want to see it, I want to know._

That confidence, that arrogance, was far away now. He still wanted to know the truth about his Master's death, but little voices began to debate back and forth in his head _how much _he really wanted to know. He knew it was just jitters, that he couldn't back out now and that things would be differently once he was down on the surface. Once he couldn't turn back.

He understood that the ground units had already been launched, thousands of soldiers were already being unloaded on the plains of Regana, preparing for a perhaps inevitable ground battle. He could sense tension everywhere, fear even, and a dreadful feeling told him that all the weapons, all the armor and all the soldiers weren't going to do a single difference about the situation.

And he also knew that the tension he was sensing was not just the thousands of soldiers that were revving up before the battle. What he felt was the Force, like a string of chords. Each chord was being strummed, pulled taut and then released, and a wave of emotion followed. It was stretched thin, too many drawing upon it at once.

This was a Jedi's battle and in the end it would be face-to-face combat that decided the future, not soldiers, not ships and not guns. The Sons of Destiny had already won the surface battle, he was sure of it, he could feel it. They would win the war, but Rishi would win the battle. All he could do was stay alive long enough to get inside and seek out Kayupa, face him and beat him.

He looked out at the soldiers in the hangar as he headed towards his ship, and tried deeply not to see them as already dead. But they were. Clad in top-of-the-line armor, cradling state-of-the-art weapons, one by one, ghosts were being packed into dropships. And the snowy plain below on Regana was already a graveyard.

Fear _was _a useless emotion.

He reached his own dropship, only to find it vacant except for the two pilots. Both of them snapped to attention as he approached and he greeted them with a quick nod. The ship was about the size of the _Koniduz_, Master Skar's old ship. The _Koniduz _was a personnel carrier, much like this one, except it's design deviated greatly. The _Koniduz _had been customized over the years by mercenaries and pirates before ending up in Master Skar's hands, and as such was sleek and gaudy.

This carred all the trademarks of a ship customized only by battle. Much repair-work shone through like scars of war, and it's design was angry and hostile, a craft designed to be effective psychologically as well as utilitarian. Cannon barrels and missile silos jutted out from every surface and every cavity of the ship that wasn't already in use. He could sense the two pilots weren't the least bit displeased with their assignment, clearly convinced they had the mother of all gunships, judging by the Force as well as their smirky expressions.

"Sir," one of them stepped forward, "we'll be your pilots today."

Rishi still wasn't done taking in the metal predator that loomed over their heads. "She looks...amble."

The pilot smiled. "Just waiting to impress you, sir."

"Too bad she's only giving me a lift."

The pilot chuckled and glanced at the bird affectionately over his shoulder. "Safest ride you'll ever get."

"Commander."

Rishi looked around for the source of the new voice and found a fully armored Republic soldier behind him. A youth but with enough confidence in his eyes that Rishi didn't immediately deem him inexperienced. "Me?"

The soldier saluted him perfectly. "Yes, commander. Admiral Saul appointed you as our squad leader."

Rishi started liking the sound of title. _Commander_. "I see." He noticed the group of fourteen commandos, decked out in snow configuration and deadly weapons attached to every limb. standing behind the one adressing him. "This it?"

He hadn't meant to sound degradating but the quick change of expression on the lead soldier proved he had nevertheless. "Yes, commander," he straightened even more than Rishi thought possible, and his voice sounded like a weapon in itself, "the Specters, tightest crew the Republic has to offer. They'll do their job well."

Rishi did his best to smile, to appear encouraged as well as encouraging, all the while his eyes refused to lock with any of the soldiers, afraid he'd envision what they'd look like dead. He stetched out with his feelings and found this group to be the calmest group of soldiers in the hangar, their experience had taught them to control their anxiety before a mission.

He also, by reflex as of lately, searched them for any corruption produced by the Sons of Destiny. Any one of these young men could have been tainted by their deception, and since his life depended upon them to some degree, he deemed it wisest to root out any dangers before he locked himself inside a ship with them.

He found nothing except sharp minds that edged to get their fingers dirty, and he wasn't about to delay their wish.

"Right, let's get out of here."

The lead soldier nodded and ordered his men onboard the dropship. Rishi joined them inside and soon the dropship was locked down tightly, the men securely harnessed to rungs in the ceiling of the ship, their armor clattering as they bounched against one another. The pilots strapped themselves in and the deadly ship soon yawned to life, all its systems slowly awakening. He felt the ship lift from the hangar floor, heard the heavy snarl of the repulsorjets as they fired up.

Rishi felt his body start to quiver to response to the ship's vibration, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He wished himself far away, feeling too vulnurable inside a ship he wasn't controlling. He hated flying, hated not being the outer ring of defense that kept him safe.

With only a few pieces of metal and some crude cannons to protect him, Rishi secluded himself inside his own mind and allowed the gentle current of the Force to help him make time pass with more speed. The Force brought comfort and warmth to his mind, helping him relax as well as centering his mind. But it also brought forth questions dormant in his mind that wouldn't be quelled so easily.

The Force was without it's forsight, all his life he'd been able to see glimpses of the future, either by vision or focused intention. What surprised him mostly was the strength he felt in the Force, as if it's boundaries had been lifted and endless, pure energy flowed to him. A greater balance had been achieved in the Force and he had an idea it stemmed from the incidents that had occured on Regana.

The planet had become a nexus point, a great deal of power had centered around the planet, drawing in energy from all of the Galaxy. He was sure Jedi elsewhere could sense the pull. He'd never felt anything like it before, as if the Force had suddenly manifested into the physical presence of Regana. Fates were being decided, the future was left uncharted, and the fate of the Galaxy remained uncertain.

Rishi felt ready, as well as fated, to be a part of it. The newfound strengthening of the Force left him feeling as though he'd skipped several years of training and wisdom, a leap in time as well as soul.

But the feeling of freedom was harrowing, it humbled him, making him worry about the consequences of it all. Was the Galaxy heading for a fall? Were the Jedi at Luke's academy ready for the kind of strength they'd been given? How many of them would misuse it and break away from their teachings?

There was no clear future, and Rishi could easily imagine that this insurgence on Regana would branch into a domino effect, producing catastrophe upon catastrophe that might undo the Galaxy as he knew it. Knowing he'd grown stronger was of small comfort, because so had those who would surely oppose him.

He felt Kal reach out to him and gladly allowed their minds to meld. He felt Kal was also in transit, onboard his own dropship.

_Thought I'd find you here_, Kal sent.

Rishi felt lighter by Kal's attempt at levity. And he was eager to hear Kal's thoughts on this newfound surge of the Force. _Can you feel it? I can't feel it anymore. The center._

_The what?_

Rishi found it hard to explain. _The center of it all...the Force...I can't see the center. Its like...its being pulled in every direction...like a blade of grass pulled by the wind._

Kal sent the equivalent of a nod. _You're talking about the future._

_Yes_, Rishi replied.

_I've never used forsight much, Rishi. The future is always in motion, as you said, and we'd be stupid to pay too much attention to unclear evidence. Past has always been where my eyes gazed the most._

Rishi found sense in his words. He'd never relied heavily on future images either, but he wished he had some direction to go after. Some indication of what was to come. _Maybe...I just wish I had something to go on._

_Rishi, did you ever consider this surge is given because we need it? Because we'll need it to find the future, to shape the things to come?_

Rishi felt his insides tighten. _Are we ready for that?_

_If we're not, who is?

* * *

_

For the hundredth time Jovis reassembled his rifle, making sure once again that the weapon wouldn't jam up once things started to go haywire. He'd been given a small squad of soldiers to help him safety the prisoners. The location still looked damaged from the escaped prisoner's visit, one of the gangways above his head had been rebuilt, but the floor still showed scaring from a firefight.

The hundred prisoners were silent as sleeping babies, for which he was thankful, oblivious to the outside events and activities they were a part of. He knew the telepath Eknath had worked some magic of his on them, keeping them quiet and tranquil. It frightened him somewhat; he wasn't used to prisoners being this quiet.

And he would have given anything for some noise. The sound of Akla's dying screams were still echoing in the back of his head, the image of the alien's mangled body appearing in flashes before his eyes every few minutes. He carried some guilt and some regret, he hadn't felt it was needed for him to prove his loyalty by killing Akla. But he'd still done it, because otherwise they had both been dead.

Most of his other mercenaries had been exported from the planet or killed in the initial attack. He was alone now, despite the supposed adoption into the Sons of Destiny. He felt alone, and he would take the first chance at combat to get out there and make the screaming in his head go away. Or at the very least replace it with the screamings of his enemies.

Jovis started when the supposed sealed door into the hostages's pen opened without any sign of ever having been sealed. In walked Eknath, trailed by that younger than young apprentice of his, the blind one everyone called Tragedy. Jovis raised himself off the floor and made his way across the floor to meet Eknath.

Jovis bowed to Eknath, trying not to stare at the odd dark scars crisscrossing his face. "Something wrong?"

"Jovis," Eknath said, slightly intriqued, "I think it's time we had a talk. You've been here for so long and we haven't had a moment to get to know each other."

Jovis felt apprenhensive all of a sudden, and kept his eyes on Tragedy, hugging the rifle in his hands tightly. "It's been working for me so far."

Eknath looked affected. "Don't be abrasive, Jovis. We're associates, not enemies."

"I work for General Riokon," Jovis said firmly, believing those words. "Sorry, but until the fighting is over I prefer keeping myself ready. I haven't got time for leisure. So unless you're here to order me to a new location," he sincerely hoped so, "I gotta get back to my prisoners."

Eknath's face darkened. "Fine, we'll do it your way."

Jovis didn't understand what that meant, but it quickly came clear to him. Eknath raised his hand and closed his eyes. Jovis's body stiffened in place, locked tight inside walls he couldn't see or touch. He felt a dizziness moving over his mind, a prying presence in the back of his brain. Suddenly Eknath's face was everywhere, in all of his memories, privy to all of his darkest secrets.

"You've been around, Jovis," Eknath whispered, his eyes blank. "You've seen much of the world, many battles. But hollow battles. None as glorious as you've wished for. And you've kept a mercenary's heart, fighting for no one but yourself. But it's not just the money, is it? No...there's more."

Jovis wanted to fight, scream, cry and run away. He'd underestimated the telepath's power or never conceived the idea that it might be turned against him. Eknath was in his mind, invading the deepest darkest of his soul, reading it as clear as a hologram. And he could do nothing to stop it.

"Ahhh, I see."

Images of Jovis's own family appeared before his inner eyes and Eknath paged them through like an open book.

"Mandalorian blood runs in your veins, Jovis. A legacy of war and battle. So that's why you seek combat. To understand your heritage. Not many Mandalorians remain, and you're only a half-breed. Yet the drive is in you, on your father's side."

Eknath released his control and Jovis dropped to the floor, exhausted from the man's control of his mind and body. Above everything else he wanted to beat the man to death, make him hurt for his abuse of his brain. But the young Tragedy standing nearby kept that desire to a mere feeling.

"I understand now why Riokon's words affect you so effectively," Eknath nodded. "He's speaking right to the part of you that wants the kind of fame, that can only come from walking away from a battlefield."

Jovis sat up on his knees, glaring daggers at Eknath. "Alright! Enough!"

Eknath grinned. "But Riokon has failed you."

"What?"

Eknath hid his hands within his dark cloak and started to circle him, looking down upon him. "This position, this mission guarding the hostages, it holds no potential for combat. No grand stand, no great victory. You are wrong for this. Mandalorians don't wait for the battle to come to them, they take the battle to their enemies."

Jovis bowed his head, steadying his breathing. "Your meaning?"

Eknath walked behind him. "The ground battle is already underway, but there is another field of warfare that needs a commander. These hostages are safe where they are, within the hands of your soldiers."

Jovis looked over his shoulder at Eknath. "What field?"

Eknath's eyes widened. "Go to the command station. From there you can watch the ground battle unfold perfectly, and you will be the one to drive the finishing stab to the Republic warships in space. But you must go now."

Jovis considered his options, was he being played? Did it matter anymore? As honored as he was to be a part of the operation, he had never shook the initial feeling that he was merely a puppet, as Akla had proved. But a puppet with power could become a puppeteer on his own. Jovis stood and strapped the rifle to his back.

"Hurry," Eknath urged. "The war will not wait for you."

Eknath watched the man run for the exit, knowing another piece of his grand design had just snapped into place. But there were more pieces to move yet. He turned back to the hostages, that devilish grin spreading across his face, falling back into his mind-melding trance.

His fingers flexed at his sides and soon the tendrils of the Force moved throughout the prisoners, affecting each and every one.

* * *

On the frozen plains, a silence passed over the seven thousand Republic soldiers. Each single soldier had his eyes on the repair yard partly veiled by the blizzard, each one fixating his attention on the slightest hint of movement. 

But there was nothing, not even a light. No sign of life at all. The repair yard stood like an empty fortress, more than willing to be conquered. But it came as no solace, the best of traps were designed this way and it was evidently clear that the Republic would have to make the first move.

Each soldier wore white armor over gray webbing, a bandana over mouth and throat and a helmet feeding them reports from the various units, along with an eyeshield that kept the wind from provoking tears from their eyes. Breath came out as smoke through the cloth over their mouths. The snow-gear was outdated at best, a far cry from what special groups like the Dragon's Tooth or Specters utilized.

Among the soldiers mutterings began to flutter, worried questions passed back and forth, each soldier feeling a tremor in their bravery. Some said prayers, some checked their weapons a fourth time, and some just stared ahead, frozen by fear. Even the ten dormant AT-AT, gargantuan battle-machines standing behind them, left-overs from the Imperial arsenal, did nothing to ease their emerging fear.

The wind's pitch changed, from a low howling it rose to a high scream, as five Republic gunships soared high above over the ranks of soldiers, flying in perfect unison as they went to pay Hope's Haven a visit.

The soldiers cheered beneath the swooping gunships.

* * *

Rishi could faintly hear the soldiers they'd just passed cheer them on and it did warm his heart slightly, but not enough to quell the beating in his heart and the ever-growing unrest that built with every second. 

He pulled up the sleeve on his left arm and activated his gauntlet's comlink and holoprojector. A lightly detailed schematic of the repair yard appeared floating over his arm. He linked the image to Kal.

"Saber Two, the main structure has a clutter of life signatures at the bottom level. That should be our hostages. Once you reach the station, head for the hostages, extract what information you can, leave your unit with them and regroup with me."

"Affirmative, Saber One," Kal's playful voice came through. "You still feeling queazy?"

Rishi frowned, but found it of some amusement that none of his worry had rubbed off on the young Kal. "Nevermind me. Stay focused."

Kal was laughing on the other end. "Fair enough. Saber Two out."

Rishi watched out the side of the dropship, steadying himself with a tight grip on the rung over his head. The cold wind struck his face but he found himself to be curious enough to bite down the pain.

Beneath the dark specks of the other Republic gunships, the plains of Regana were nothing short of mesmerizing, a vast rugged dreamy landscape, filled with white and blindingly pure. Even through the gale-force storm he could see it, see an enviroment that stayed untouched, uncorrupted by artificial structures. He remembered nothing like it. He'd lived on Coruscant for so long, grown so used to metal and concrete and steel, that he couldn't remember what Draori, his homeworld, looked like. The sight brought a rare joy to his fluttering heart, and he'd never thought he'd find so simple pleasure at simply looking at unfamiliar landscapes.

_Strange_, he thought. There he was, heading into almost certain death, right into a clear trap, all on personal motives only to witness this now. He couldn't help feel the Force had wanted him to see the snow, the mountains, the ravines, all of it to help him remember that a world existed outside his own head, a beautiful world at that.

He could feel himself starting to smile -

When blocky black metallic structures rolled underneath the dropship, the towering buildings of the seemingly deserted Hope's Haven. It looked no more alive up close, the snow had been falling more rapidly and the repair yard appeared to be slowly overcome by the landscape itself. He spotted several cannon emplacements and spanned his awareness to enfold all of them in his mind. Any sign of activity or motion would send a warning through his mind.

His heart started to pound faster, and the dropship moved into a sharp dive, settling into a hovering position over the roof of the designated structure, blowing the snow from the surface and revealing a landing pad.

The fifteen soldiers began jumping from the ship when it was within a safe height, never fully landing, making for a quick flight away from the structure once the team was offloaded.

He knew the same thing was happening at five different locations throughout the installation and he was curious enough to look up and see if he could spot the other gunships.

Across the station the other gunships likewise dropped to a hovering state over their designated entry points. He could spot two of them, on the adjacent buildings. The soldiers onboard were crawling out of the hold, armored and already in combat-mode. They secured the roofs and laid out a defensive pattern, while one soldier on each roof prepared shaped charges to blow a hole through the ceiling.

The Force enveloped him and an image of two roofs exploding flashed before his eyes, only seconds before it happened.

The roofs of the two closest buildings erupted in a fireball that swept out, engulfing the gunships and throwing commandos off the ledges. He could hear some of them screaming as they fell over the engine of his own gunship.

"Sithspawn!" Kal's voice broke through on his comlink. "What was that!"

Rishi pulled himself out of the shock and forced his mind to work logically. "Saber Two; do not use ordanance to breach! They've got the roofs loaded with explosives!" Another explosion drowned out his voice, and Rishi's heart pounded against his chest. "Kal! Kal! Come in!"

Static filled most of the connection. "...alright, Saber One. That was the last gunship. We'll talk once we're inside!"

"Copy that," Rishi killed the link and saw only half of his commandos had been unloaded so far. "Get out of here!" He knew the pilots didn't like staying in one place for too long at a time. The drop-off went too slowly for Rishi's taste, feeling extremely vulnurable. "GO! GO! GO!"

The soldiers hustled as fast as they could, dropping down onto the landing pad one at a time, rifles ready in an instant, setting up a protective perimeter. Rishi touched the shoulder of each soldier that passed him, urging them forward. He felt like he should say something encouraging, but his frustration with their slow movements only fueled his anger. They'd just been reduced to less than half their force, thirty soldiers and three gunships lost within a minute.

_You know what will happen to them._

A voice in his head. Rishi felt exposed, even more vulnurable. He looked out at the other structures, trying to spot a source. Obviously someone was observing him somewhere. Someone Force-sensitive.

_You know they're walking into a trap, just like your Master. They are coming here to die, and you know it. You shouldn't be here. It's wrong, Rishi._

Rishi couldn't shake the fear from his heart. _Master?_

_You're not ready for this. You have no idea what you're walking into. You're not just going up against an enemy, you will be fighting the very will of the Force. You are walking into a destiny in which you do not belong, events that you should not affect._

Rishi started fading into himself, losing sight of time, losing himself in an attempt to keep the voice going, to understand what it was telling him.

_This has to happen, Rishi. And the Force wants it to happen without you. You're only making things worse. You cannot escape fate. And the Force will work against you, it will betray you, because your presence is not needed for a favorable - _

"Commander, please!"

Rishi came out of it, to see the dropship empty of soldiers and the pilots staring at him from the cockpit.

"Get out of here, Commander! We can't stay here any longer!"

Rishi ignited the lightsaber and jumped from the hold, plummeting down through freezing winds with that voice, that soft comforting voice becoming a haunting presence in his head.

_This has to happen, Rishi..._

Rishi shook the voice out of his head and the wind took him, nudging him slightly, but using the Force he steadied his descent and dropped down perfectly in the midst of the soldiers. Above him he heard the dropship revv up its engines and watched as it accelerated away, only to come back around through a half circle and roar over their heads before heading back towards the ground forces.

Rishi wished them good luck and dropped to his knee on the roof. Reversing his hilt he stabbed the blade easily through the surface and carved a circle around himself. The carved disc caved and Rishi rode it down into the level below. The moment the disc touched solid floor inside the top level of the building, his blue lightsaber fell into a defensive stance.

His cloak billowed out behind him, still pulled by the wind outside. He looked down both directions of the wide blackened corridor, released two flash grenades from his belt and tossed them both ways. Heartbeats later both went off and rocked the floor beneath him, lighting up the corridor in a brief but powerful blaze, showing him sealed doors at both end.

He gave the clear signal to the soldiers on the roof and moved down the corridor while they dropped down loudly, one by one through the hole. They filed out behind him, half covering the rear while the second half stayed behind him just enough to shoot around him. He was a living shield to them, and the thought he found complimenting, if it wasn't for the fact that every shot fired would reach him first.

Never wasting a second, he reached the end of the corridor and slammed his lightsaber through it's locking mechanism. The door remained sealed however, but Rishi's manipulation of the Force pulled the door aside, spitting sparks over his feet as it clawed against it's own rail system -

A shot wheezed past his head and Rishi left the door half open, moving behind it's cover along with the soldiers. It annoyed him he hadn't managed to do a count of the enemy in the next corridor, but right now the doorway that vomited shots through the half open door reigned first priority.

With his lightsaber he stabbed several holes in the door and stepped aside so the soldiers could use them to shoot through. The holes were small enough to offer cover but also large enough so they could aim efficiently through.

Rishi unhitched another flash grenade from his belt and spun it through the doorway, a second before rolling through. The grenade exploded just as he came back up. He closed his eyes from the blazing light that burned through the corridor before him and lended his body to the will of the Force.

His arms moved as though he was a string puppet, cutting down enemies left and right, whipping through them with fast and wide arcs of the blue blade. Two heartbeats later he gave another clear signal.

The soldiers filed past him, checking the dead for useful items. Rishi was about to advance forward when a gnawing feeling manifested in his gut. He made an annoyed sigh and nodded to the soldiers.

"Hold on."

He dropped to his knee again and carved another circle around him, dropping down into the floor underneath, landing in the middle of a group of enemy soldiers running for an unknown location. Rishi knocked the nearest down with an elbow, kicked another to the wall and sent out a whirlwind of the Force. The soldiers lifted off the floor and hovered helplessly in his grip. Rishi spun his blade as he circled himself, ending the lives of every soldier. Their bodies tattered to the floor loudly and Rishi jumped back up through his hole and joined his group of commandos once again.

"Move up," he said casually and activated the comlink on his wrist. He thought it wise to inform Admiral Saul that they'd made it inside and that they'd made contact with the enemy. He moved it to his mouth to speak -

- and a sputter of static clawed at his ears.

* * *

Kal swirled the lightsaber, making good use of his wrists's flexibility as he created an umbrella of blue light that bluntly punched every bolt aside. The soldiers in his unit raised hell with their rifles, gunning down their assailants with ruthless efficiency. The enemy soldiers fell back as though struck by an invisible fist with every salvo of bolts that slammed into them.

Kal watched it with half his attention while the other half focused on keeping his lightsaber spinning at full speed. They'd come down inside a small hangar which housed the only starfighters Hope's Haven had for an air defense, several B-wings sat packed along the walls and a group of enemy soldiers had firmly barricaded the only way out by stacking several large crates into a small section of cover.

Kal began to press his shield forward, shouting for the soldiers for follow him. The air around him was laced with blaster bolts, a sharp ringing starting to pound through his brain. He locked the pain out of his sphere of attention and kept a steady forward pace, ignoring the pain forming at his wrists and the sweat stinging his eyes.

Once he got within reasonable range he sent an order into the minds of the soldiers behind him and threw himself into the air. The soldiers jumped to the sides, diving onto their stormachs and rolling to safety behind the starfighters. Kal came down on top of the cover, whipped his lightsaber down in a wide semi-circle, cleaving three helmeted heads in one stroke.

His speed offered none of the remaining soldiers a chance to fend him off, as he dropped down to the floor among them. He stabbed his blade out to his left, spearing two on the length of the saber, then retracted the blade and changed grip behind his back, dropping it into his right palm and stabbed another two.

The battle ended and Kal whistled for his unit to form up. He faced the door leading out of the hangar and brought his comlink to his lips.

Static exploded from its small speaker.

_They've jammed external communications. _His eyes looked at the walls of the hangar around him. _Or maybe it's the storm...doesn't matter. Onwards, Kal._

He switched over to Rishi's frequency. "Saber One, this is Saber Two."

The speaker replaced static with distant muted sounds, a lightsaber twirling and bolts flying. "Kal, you okay?" Rishi asked.

"For the moment. I've lost communications with the outside."

"Me too. Nothing we can do about it now," a thunderous explosion on the other end almost broke the speaker in his comlink, "mind if I call you back? Kinda in the middle of something."

Kal smiled. "Catch you later."

* * *

Although he felt no more connected with his soldiers groundside from the bridge than he did in his quarters, Admiral Gout Saul had chosen the bridge as his command center for the operation. He moved from opposite ends of the bridge, watching the readouts on all screens over his officers's shoulders, issuing orders, asking questions, relaying thoughts and making sure his presence was known to every man in his crew. 

Anything to avoid staring at the haunting white planet that spanned his viewscreens. An hour had passed since the young Rishi had boarded his gunship, even more hours since the ground forces had launched from the hangars. Three gunships down, three units of commandos gone in the blink of an eye.

He felt vulnurable, knowing the _Masamune _was cut down to a skeleton crew, knowing so many of his men were down there on the ground, in harm's way and he could do nothing to better their chances. They were fighting a ghost on it's home terms, unable to do anything but their best to win the day.

Communication with Rishi and his team had been severed, the circumstances still a mystery. The lack of communication with the commandos inside only worsened his fear, it could mean many things, it could easily just be a disruption in the single comlink or it could mean all of the teams were dead. There was no way of knowing without going inside.

He wasn't about to count it off as a mishap, in combat everything was intent and nothing happened by accident. No plan survived contact with the enemy. By all the evidence the repair yard was dead, no electronics present that could distort their signals.

But the reason worried him less than the consequence; was Rishi and his team already captured, perhaps dead? He'd decided to give them two hours, before he ordered the ground forces to advance on the station.

He feared having to give that order, feared having to enforce incidents he wished he could avoid. It brought him little comfort to know that the order wouldn't really be his, that it would be High Command in actuality giving the orders.

And five minutes ago, they had.

Admiral Saul secluded himself at the front of the bridge, as close to the viewscreen as he could get, and fought the temptation to rest his head against the screen in frustration.

A blue hologram shimmered to life behind him, a full-sized reconstruction of General Davon, commander of the ground forces. "Admiral, still no word?"

Admiral Saul didn't really want to face the man but he managed to pull himself away from the viewscreen and shook his head at the hologram. "Nothing, General. High Command has given us the go-ahead. Are your units ready?"

The General nodded, a grave look on his face. "I've trained them too well. I was hoping we could give them more time."

Admiral Saul sympathized. "Nothing more we can do, General. Have your army advance on the station. Once within firing range, your walkers will open fire upon the structures of Hope's Haven, one building at a time."

General Davon nodded, but it was clear by his expression his heart wasn't in it. "And the hostages?"

Admiral Saul turned his back to the hologram and tried to vent his despair with a heavy exhale. "Their lives are forfeit. Casualties of war, General. For all we know they're already dead."

The General tilted his head. "_For all we know_...Admiral, we don't know anything."

Admiral Saul gazed distracted at station outside, so far away and yet so close. "Sometimes an illusion can fill the gaps of questions we have no answers for. High Command wants the Sons of Destiny's ploy squashed and they want us to be the boot." Admiral Saul searched hard for logic behind his own words, and decided there was none. "You have your orders, General, just as I have mine. Permission granted to level Hope's Haven into the ground."

The General nodded and made a quick salute to Saul's back. "It will be done, Admiral...for the New Republic."

The hologram faded and the General's last words sounded noble but Admiral Saul was not ignorant to the poorly hidden discomfort and disillusionment beneath them. What was happening to the Republic? How could they let this happen? He could have easily sent in another team to inspect the station, but they'd refuted him. The quicker the threat was gone, the happier were the officer-dwellers, hostages be damned.

Admiral Saul tore his eyes away from the viewscreen when his eyes uncovered his own reflection and he found himself unable to look at it.

* * *

Krych waded through an ocean of pain, a veil of torment that had no end. As he'd explained to Master Raine, the fire that had burned his face still lingered. He could still feel it on his skin, feel the stabbing ache that came over him in waves as his mask brushed up against the sore skin. He knew any normal human would have been on his knees, screaming for death, praying for a release from the furious terror that draped his head. But Krych was not any normal human. 

He was a Dark Jedi; he strived on pain. He'd manipulated his own mind to embrace the pain, allowing it to flow freely, letting it fill his entire being. Doing this brought him in a constant link with the Dark Side, and every pulse of pain brought him more power, made him stronger. He could've easily pushed the pain aside with a technique, but he didn't want that. He wanted to grow, wanted to nurture the Dark Side.

He accepted the loss of his face as his punishment for failing to rescue Junn, it was the only noble thought that kept him from going insane by the thought that he'd never look the way he did before. Covering his face with a mask was another part of that truth, it deluded him from the fact, and sometimes he could almost pretend his real face was still underneath that porcelain facade.

His gloved fingers tapped the controls next to the door to the vhronik pen. For some reason the canines had herded together after they'd eaten all of the ysalamiri. They were territorial creatures, pack-hunters, but so far they'd sent out no scouts, no hunting party to search for food. He admitted he knew very little about the creatures, but the sensation they exhibited in the Force had his curiosity peaked.

The doors groaned as they opened, the sound of it exceptionally loud in Krych's ears. He could feel the vhroniks reacting to it also, their senses centering on the invasion of their sanctuary. He sent out a wave of peaceful intentions, but as he suspected it merely bounced right off their carnivirous minds.

The sloped rows of seats around the round space in the center of the room, led him to believe the room had once been a briefing center or a council chamber. There were ten rows of raised chairs, dark shadows lurking behind every one of them. The floor at the base of the room seemed to have no floor, except for a moving flowing carpet of gray ashy hide. The entire chamber seemed to be alive, moving and snarling, smelling of rot and that unmistakable rusty scent of blood.

The General had told him how they'd lived in cave dwellings on their homeworld and it seemed they'd done their best to find a space that resembled a cave. By all rights the creatures had made the chamber their own, little evidence remained to suggest this chamber had ever truly belong to anyone else.

Krych stepped inside, and the doors sealed behind him.

Five vhroniks leapt at him from a perch above his head, their weight throwing him down the stairs, sending him tumbling onto the sea of vhroniks. Panic shot through his body, but rather than fighting against them he laid still upon their spines, letting their small movements work him like the waves of a leathery ocean.

He understood that these creatures were more than simple animals; they maintained an awareness of the Force that aided their hunting senses, but they, unlike any creature Krych had ever heard of, also believed in justice.

General Riokon had told him how they hunted using the Force, that they preyed upon the Dark Side. So by all means he should have been already dead, torn to pieces like the escaped Kjoil clone, since no place would they find a heart more nestled in the Dark Side than his.

And he could feel them acknowledging the fact, he could feel their minds touching him, reading him, assessing him. The ones upon which he gently rocked back and forth made no physical advance upon him, but the five that had sprung from above the doorway, stalked down the stairs and dispursed at its base, leaning back on their shorter hind legs and lowering their heads as they examined him.

He could see them gazing interestingly beyond his boots, releasing small growls and snarls to each other, communicating on a level he couldn't read.

And he allowed it to happen.

The largest of the five was an animal almost as horrific as the monster he saw in the mirror these days. Four meters in length, the blade-tipped tail easily a meter and a half by itself, the creature's yellow eyes seemed to glow upon him with fury beneath brows made of small horns. The lips pulled back to reveal sharp bloodied teeth that laced their jaws. The tail wagged slowly, and the creature purred shortly before letting out a roar that shook Krych's eardrums.

Then it's hind legs stretched and it began to approach him, crawling over the sea of the herd, barring it's teeth and trembling with anger. He kept himself perfectly still, suppressing the fear starting to form in his guts. And as though the creature's advance wasn't bad enough he could feel the ones beneath him starting to move towards their pack-leader, bringing him closer to the demonic creature upon waves of bony spines.

His breathing intensified, soaking the insides of his mask with humidity. Through those small slits in his mask he saw the creature grow and grow as it came closer, saw the powerful muscles flexing beneath the tight gray skin over it's front legs. He saw those razor teeth, those quivering lips, that thrashing tail.

The paw of it's right front leg landed upon his left shin, and he could feel the fingers tightening around his ankle. The second front leg touched down on the right side of his hip, claws digging into his skin and bones.

And it didn't stop there, the creature never paused but continued to crawl over him, slowly filling all vision the holes in his mask allowed. He felt it brush against his chest, his belly and thighs, enfolding him within it's powerful limbs.

And the head lowered to sniff his mask, it's death-filled breath filling his nostrils. His body convulsed a second but he denied himself the reflex of vomiting. The creature's lips moved across his mask, tasting the porcelain surface. He heard teeth clacking against teeth, heard the tongue as it smacked within the powerful jaws. The tongue moved outside of the mouth, running along the mask, reaching inside the small slits for his eyes, prying and tasting his burnt face.

Krych moved his right hand up slowly, letting the animal clearly know he was moving. He unfastened the mask with a small but quick pull and moved it away from his face, holding it firmly in his palm.

The vhronik stared at his face, unsure of what to make of him. He could see those bright yellow eyes no more than centimeters away, feel its breath wash over his face, see the tiny twitches of its ears as it studied his face. The tongue licked his chin, it's sandpaper texture tearing open his wounds and drawing blood. He bit down on his own teeth, tasting blood inside his mouth. But the creature didn't seem to care, it continued to soak up the taste of his dead face, while he squirmed beneath it's enourmous head.

He could hear other vhroniks hissing and purring beneath him, felt more tongues touching his naked hands and back, felt sharp teeth gingerly probe his soft skin. The uncomfortable sensation brought shivers to his body, and sweat through ever pore, only to be soaked up by rough grainy tongues.

He wondered how long the ritual would last, and what it even meant. He secluded himself from the outside world, and allowed the pain of his bleeding face to fill his awareness. He could stay there for hours if he had to, days. It didn't matter to him, pain had become second-nature to him, a constant he only really noticed when it started to fade. Vhronik minds pricked at his mind, reading his thoughts. He hid nothing from them, nor could he if he wanted to.

He surrendered himself to their care, knowing he couldn't escape unless they wanted him to. And how long it would take for them to evaluate his survival didn't matter. He knew there was a war waiting for him out on the plains, but at that moment he really had no choice. He questioned his motives for coming down into the vhronik pen, releasing it was a stupid idea. Had he come to test them, to fight them? Was there any hint of intelligence behind his coming here?

The pain pulsed again, that fire burning in his skin, steadying his mind, leaving doubt and confusion mired underneath. There _was _a purpose. His eyes sharpened slowly at the realization, gazing into those yellow eyes, moving his face closer to the inspecting tongue, wanting it closer.

The vhronik pulled its head back, surprised at his movement -

And his free hand flew up to grab hold of the muscles in its neck, holding it tight before it could move further away. The yellow eyes widened and the creature roared into his face. He stared it down, brought his face right up into its teeth and eyes. He allowed no fear to shine through, and he let the animal read his eyes thourougly, letting it know he was the monster here.

The creature roared again, but it slowly dissolved into a painful whimper, a scared and broken yelp escaping its lips.

He grinned into it's head, his cracked face bleeding freely as what remained of his lips formed a smile. "Hate...anger...fear," he whispered to it, "the powers on which we both strive. Your every cell screams, doesn't it? Its your nature to kill the unworthy," Krych closed his eyes and allowed the creature's fear of him fill his head, "the _hunger_."

The vhronik no longer resisted his grip, but laid into him, seeking his love, acknowledging him as its new master, coiling its powerful tail around his right leg. Its head moved down and flattened on his chest, and he caressed it softly by the ears.

"Don't worry..._Talon_," he dubbed his new pet, "soon you will be fed hate, anger and fear," he thought of the Republic soldiers outside on the plains, waiting for the war to begin, waiting for him, "by the thousands."


	2. The Battle For Regana

Having debated the subject with himself, Rishi found himself unable to do anything but admit to his worst fear; he loved to fight. He missed the feeling of his own lightsaber in his hands, but it was a small longing. Kal's handgrip was performing acrobatics by itself inside his palms, never staying still fore more than a second before moving into the next series of ferocious spins or lunges.

The blade was an extention of himself and although he'd trained with a lightsaber ever since Master Skar had plucked him from Draori, he knew most of the speed and precise movements came from the Force. No Jedi, Kjoil or Sith was as fast as the Force, no eye as exact as the will of the Force.

Fighting for him was the real kind of meditation. There was an abandon of mind that took place when he thought, a moment where he truly gave himself to the Force, rather than pulling from it. The Force filled his every cell and used him as a puppet, it's energy flowing through his limbs and veins. All he knew and saw was the Force painted in a bluish light that flashed before his eyes ten times a second.

The Sons of Destiny soldiers came at him in groups, their carefully planned points of defense easily laid to waste by a spinning blade and a squad of Republic soldiers. They were definitely good, these Sons of Destiny, but their tactics suffered beneath the sheer ferocity of Rishi's advance.

They relied on logic and good planning; Rishi had none of that. He marched through the station with nothing to guide him but the danger sense in his head. Wherever the Force detected activity, that's where he went.

Clearing out another nest he came into a junction in the hallways and had to consult his comlink for a readout of the station. He'd lost a few of his own men in the fighting, but considering the losses on the enemy's side of things it didn't bother him much. Thousands were about to die outside on the plains if he didn't move as fast as he could.

The hologram shimmered over his wrist and Rishi began sculpting a plan. He was two buildings away from the main structure where he belived the heaviest fighting would happen. Kal was on the opposite side of the main structure, fighting his way to the same destination.

Their combined movement would create a pincer move on the main structure, coming in from both sides which Rishi hoped would make the siege of the structure easier. Rishi opened up the link with Kal.

"Saber Two, this is Saber One."

"Saber One, go ahead."

"Continue your advance towards the main building, but await my arrival. With good coordination we can catch them from both sides. It should lessen the opposition."

Kal sounded hesitant. "Uhmm, I'm not really headed for the main structure, Saber One. We managed to patch into the enemy's frequency and it seems they're rallying all of their forces in one hangar. They're getting ready for the battle outside."

Rishi frowned. "They're ignoring our presence?"

"Seems like it."

"Well, then what are you doing, Saber Two?"

Again he hesitated. "Rishi, I've come across something very bad over here. Suggest you forget the main structure for now and come take a look."

Rishi cursed. "I can't get to your position without going through the main structure."

"Well, then move silently. And leave your unit in the main structure. I'm sending my unit to link up with them. With all of the enemy gathered in one spot you won't meet any resistance."

Rishi decided to go along on Kal's idea. "Alright, Saber Two. But what have you found?"

Kal snickered nervously on the other end. "Well...I was feeling pretty good about my ability to leave a trail of dead across the entire station - "

"Yeah?"

He could hear Kal swallow hard. "I've found a bigger trail."

The words shook Rishi at his very foundation, and he knew instantly he needed to see it for himself. Something told him it was related to Master Skar. Rishi concocted a quick plan to reach the building Kal was in, but concluded there was no direct approach. Hundreds upon hundreds of the enemy soldiers had massed around the main building and there was no quick way around it.

_The shortest distance between two points is a straight line._

With lightsaber in hand, Rishi set about making a straight line.

* * *

Jedi Master Raine's cloak resembled wings trying for flight as he walked to the edge of the roof, falling into place next to the Dark Jedi Eknath. Their hoods hid their faces from each other, but their minds spoke in volumes between them. Raine allowed his walking stick to fall to the ceiling and flexed his fingers, summoning all of the Force's energy into his small limbs.

Eknath cracked his knuckles and gazed expectingly at the horizon. At the black dots in the far distance that made up the Republic's ground forces. They were too far away for his taste, and time moved much too slowly.

Raine nodded as he was ready. "Krych is below, speaking to the troops."

"Excellent," Eknath said out the corner of his mouth, showing little interest. "Let us hope he is not dissapointed with the leftovers."

Raine didn't like that prospect. "He's become dangerous, too powerful. Unstabil."

Eknath grinned. "Yes, just what we need. Restraint is not an option, all we can do is direct him towards our enemy, and let him have his fun."

Raine shook his head. "He's changed too much."

Eknath's face turned slightly to look at the small Jedi Master. "Only for the better. You saw him at the meeting when we first came here. He stood up to Riokon, and Riokon diminished him."

Raine looked to his own palms. "Sometimes we must listen to someone outside of the problem in order to have an objective view. Krych was put in his rightful place."

Eknath scowled. "Only because Riokon's greed was more powerful than his. He wanted the clone for himself," the telepath's scowl slowly formed a smile, "and even when given the chance he failed."

Raine sighed. "Revenge is easy to understand in someone who believes in nothing."

"Revenge can also be a faith. But Riokon doesn't believe in nothing," Eknath offered. "He believes in our family. Family is the most important thing to him, that's why we're here now. The wrongdoing that was committed against his son will be ratified."

Raine nodded, but his eyes showed no compassion. "He...did place him in their hands."

Eknath smiled fiendishly. "The clone lived his life as their son, he was the closest they'd ever have to a son."

"But whatever deception he lived through meant nothing to Riokon," Raine retorted. "And I don't blame him."

Eknath's brows lifted. "Someone close to him thought otherwise."

"Sasa?" Raine asked, thinking of no other option.

Eknath nodded. "She was endeared to him. He though of her as his mother, and she saw the son in him Koll was trying to avenge."

Raine frowned, refusing to believe it. "Sasa is reliable. She is - "

"Sasa _was _reliable," Eknath stated, "until she met him."

Raine didn't want to believe it. Sasa was Koll's wife, his closest family, his entire family. She would never betray him. No, it couldn't happen. They'd been through too much. She wanted this revolution as much as he did. Their priorities were the same, as any husband and wife.

Raine pushed the idea away. "You think she'll betray us?"

Eknath stared at the horizon, his face frozen by more than just cold. "No. Actually, I've seen sufficient proof of her loyalty. It is the size of her loyalty that scares me."

* * *

The sight of the thousand soldiers that awaited him inside the hangar, as he rode in on the unsaddled Talon, sent a rush of blood through his veins. Pride filled him instantly, causing yet a smile on his torn face underneath the mask. He pulled Talon's reins and the creature sprang into motion, its claws clanging on the hangar floor as it thrashed its way to the front of the soldiers, roaring proudly.

Krych sat back on the creature's spine, facing the soldiers, letting each and every one of them take a good look at his new face. Talon clattered back and forth underneath him, not used to being alone, and facing so many that would have been food if not for Krych's coercion.

He'd dressed himself in one of Riokon's antique battlesuits, a red undersuit complimented by shining golden gauntlets, epulets, greaves and boots. His chest and stomach was shielded by a silver defensive covering, of an elaborate design that eluded him, although he was sure he had been present when their army had visited the world of the designers.

He felt enormous wearing the armor, more so he felt worthy of it's beauty, felt like a real general. General Riokon had always looked impressive wearing it and Krych was sure whoever had designed it had imagined it for ceremonial uses, and never intended it would actually be worn in true combat.

Krych _would _wear it, and he knew that when he returned it would still be undamaged. He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt, lit the vermilion blade and held it aloft.

"Sons of Destiny!" he yelled, using the full strength of his lungs to make his voice heard through the mask. "This is the moment we've been waiting for! Our time spent fighting tiny factions in the Unknown Regions has not been in vain! Every battle fought in that nameless region has prepared us, strengthened us, _for this day_! To fight the Republic! To take this Galaxy into our own hands, and lead the future!"

The soldiers roared in unison, their yells shaking the very walls and floor of the hangar. Talon bellowed in response, snarling and shaking its powerful head at the soldiers. Krych felt the excitement and pride of his soldiers wash over him, filling him with a light unlike any other. His eyes watered and his grip on the lightsaber tightened.

"Do it for liberty, for justice, for an end to corruption and tyranny! To a brighter world for our children! Do it for - " his voice broke, as he realized his own words had ambushed him. He swallowed the lump in his throat. ""Do...do it for Eulogy, for _Junn_! Do it for her! Make her proud! Show yourselves worthy of her love!"

He hoped she was listening somewhere, that she would hear the soldiers scream out her name as a battlecry. Krych's tears flowed freely beneath the mask, the salty drops stinging his face.

"Come!" he cried. "Let's shape our fates! Let's show the world the power of an ideal! The sheer force of will and determination! Come!" He reined Talon around to face the hangar doors that separated him from the plains, the soon-to-be battlefield. He moved the lightsaber down to point at the door. "Beyond those doors awaits immortality! Your names signed indefinetely in the pages of history!"

The soldiers raised their rifles to the ceiling of the hangar, their cries growing and growing, building into a steady frenzy of sheer undaunted pride and strength. Krych harnested the Force and pulled the doors open slowly, the cold wind ripping at his bare arms, snow fluttering through the gap as it grew.

Talon roared beneath him, wired from his energy. Krych unleashed all of the Dark Side at the outside plains, letting all of his anger manifest into a terrifying scream that drowned out the roars of the storm outside.

_"What are you waiting for_!"

Talon leapt into a full sprint, carrying a screaming Krych on it's back, a thousand soldiers charging after him, all of them etching traces in destiny as their boots trampled snow.

* * *

Rishi and his team came running into the hangar, on a gangway above the soldiers, only to watch wave upon wave of Sons of Destiny soldiers march out of the hangar doors, a sea of determination and pride dressed in night black armor. His commandos raised blaster-rifles over the railings, ready to fire.

Rishi stared at the departing army, feeling he had to do something. If they'd been more commandos in his team, he could've...

He sighed. There was nothing to do. The last of the soldiers dissapeared beneath the rim of the hangar doors, fading from sight in the thick winds outside. The lead commando secured his rifle and looked to Rishi. The battle was out of his hands to stop, but there were still objectives he could fulfill.

"Sir?"

Rishi couldn't take his eyes off the hangar doors, feeling so small.

_This has to happen, Rishi_, the voice said again in his mind.

_But why?_ Rishi asked. _There must be some way._

_There is...and this is it._

"Sir?"

Rishi shook the voice out of his head and signaled the team to advance down the bridge. "The battle belongs to the soldiers. We're here for the hostages. Proceed without me, link up with Saber Two's unit, find the hostages and keep them secure."

"Right, sir." The lead commando waved his men forward. "Keep moving, team."

The soldiers snapped into action and ran onward, showing a clearheaded resolution Rishi no longer knew where to find. He knew he should have been with them, but the emptiness inside of him made him lean against the cold railing, staring unfocused at the snow outside. The Force was charging with energy within him, but he felt like a charged rifle without a target, without even a finger to press the trigger.

_This has to happen? Why does it have to happen?_

The voice manifested in his head. _It is the will of the Force._

Rishi frowned. _I don't believe you. The Force is the way of compassion, it's - _

_The way of compassion belongs to the Jedi. And you are no Jedi._

Rishi's eyes widened. _So? What difference does that make?_

The voice was grave, but not unkind. _That question...is why you are here, and why you shouldn't be here. That question...is the end of everything._

Rishi couldn't fight the terror forming behind his eyes, a desolation seemingly bottomless. Was he wrong? _How _was he wrong in coming here? What was happening? He was here to stop the terrorists and the voice -

He remember the Bothan, Rarsk Dokyan, something he'd said shortly before dying. _The Sons of Destiny are not a terrorist group._

Rishi's fingers uncurled from the railing and he stood back, fighting hard to find the truth among the lies, the sense in the insanity. Was there any? How could he trust this mysterious voice in his head? How could he trust the Bothan? How could he trust his own judgement? Who could he trust?

_Trust me on this, Rishi_, the voice returned, _trust no one.

* * *

_

"First wave, advance," the static voice of General Davon came through their helmet's internal communication.

Most hesitated, but some didn't and once the first soldier broke the line, the rest followed, the sound of trampled snow rising above the roar of the blizzard. They moved like a wall of armor, widening out, an army of soldiers two hundred men wide and one hundred long, marching across the stretch to reach the repair yard one mile away.

* * *

Eknath frowned from atop the station, seeing the Republic forces starting to move on the station. "An advance force."

Raine steadied himself against the wind, searching the currents of the Force for answers. "Prudent for them."

"But time-consuming for us." He opened his cloak and pulled back the sleeves to reveal his slender hands. "But very well; if they want to die one at a time, so be it." His eyes fell upon Raine. "Are you with me, Master Jedi?"

Raine listened with all of his soul to the Force, hoping desperately for a sign or a voice that told him he didn't have to do this, that he shouldn't do this. Thousands were about to die, and he still found it impossible to believe the Force wasn't going to intervene. Times had definetely changed; in the days of his youth the Force had spoken to him like a clear signal, a unflinching divide between right or wrong.

Life had always precious and to be preserved. That the Force seemed to want this massacre to take place, was beyond him. And yet it was all he had to go on. He released the heaviest of sighs.

"I am with you, Master Eknath."

They both turned away from the battlefield and faced the north mountains on the opposite side of the station. They both pulled upon the Force, pulling all of it's power to their fingers, letting it flow through their veins and limbs, and prepared for a release of energy that hadn't been performed for a very long time.

At the feet of the north mountains, almost buried by the constant falling snow, shards of massive shiphulls still reached for the clouds above.

The _Watchmen _scrapyard.

* * *

In the front line of the Republic's advance force marched a young soldier called Sora. New to the military and still young enough to feel as if war was the last place he should be, he ignored the shaking feeling in his knees and concentrated on staring straight ahead. The winds stole away most of his visibility of the station, but every now and then a clear line of sight would reveal details about it that stabbed his confidence like a vibroblade. He felt as though he was riding a wave, his comrades around him marching confidently towards the station as if it was just another day in their lives.

Sora didn't feel that way at all. He had confidence but only in the fact that he would certainly die today. He could feel it. His heart was racing like a dewback on fire. Every nerve and cell in his body screamed to turn around and run as far away from Regana as he could. But every time he slowed, soldiers behind him pushed him forward, ordering him to keep up.

The station laid dead ahead, no bigger than he could fit it into his hand, and still he knew that section of buildings ahead would be the last thing he saw. Death hovered over him like the clouds parting above -

_Parting? _he thought.

But indeed the clouds were starting to pull away over their heads, pulling apart like a giant seam had been loosened down their center. It looked unnatural, and Sora doubted any wind could pull clouds apart so cleanly. The surrealness of it caused his feet to stop walking, and others soon joined him. Staring at a long gone sun finally glaring down upon them.

Several hundred soldiers stopped in their tracks and gazed upon the light falling pouring over them, mesmerized by this strange occurance.

"What are you doing!" General Davon's voice yelled in their ears. "Continue your approach to the target!"

The first piece of ship-hull that fell from the sky was the size of a blockade runner, stabbing like a giant dagger into the snow a few feet away from Sora. The building-sized shard of metal tilted onto its side, creating a wall between the soldiers and their target. Sora stood back, terrified, but more wrecks fell from the sky, raining down around them. Some the size of starfighters, others being entire engine departments that could have moved a star destroyer through space.

The ground quaked beneath them, and Sora had to bend down on one knee to keep from falling over. The sound pushed away the frantic screaming of his comrades and he could only stand there and stare as -

"They're herding us together!" he cried.

The falling debris was not accidental, it landed in precize locations, slowly building an unscalable wall around the soldiers. And no sooner had he said those words over his helmet's comlink, that the last piece slammed down into place, effectively sealing the soldiers off in a huge pen made of starship wreckage. The wall stood high like a four-storied building, tilted inwards to discourage climbing over.

"Advance team; what's your status?"

Their commander spoke up over Sora's frequency. "Locked tight, General." There was a tremor of fear in his voice. "Completely...no way out of here, General."

"Hold tight, we'll get you out of there!"

Sora began to suspect they would be too late. At the center of their new prison, beneath the boots of the soldiers, a section of snow began to tremble. The tiny particles of snow evened out flat due to the vibration. The nearest soldiers noticed it and trained their weapons upon the spot.

"Underground tunnels," one of them said viciously, "we'll be ready for them."

The ground continued to shake, rattling the soldiers, some falling on their backs. The vibration intensified, growing and growing until the section started to rise up, cracking down its peak.

"Keep it together, team," another muttered.

And then it was freed. A cylinder the size of a man shot like a rocket from the ground and soared up into the sky high above their heads. It lingered there for a second before coming back down, The confusion prevented the soldiers from firing, not expecting to see a harmless looking cylinder emerge from the hole. The soldiers jumped back as the cylinder slammed down again, right next to its hole, sitting pretty in a new hole.

Sora laid on his back only three feet away, staring at the object by his feet. Small lights flickered up its side and the thing seemed to give off a vibration of its own. A building vibration that shook through the ground beneath their boots just as before, a terrorfying omen of imminent danger.

Sora remembered back to his history classes in warfare, something about the object bringing forth a word in his mind by its own will.

And then it hit.

"Seismic char - "

Sound dropped to an utter silence for one second before the blast wave moved out in a giant circle of inferno around the cylinder, shattering armor and throwing bodies to the wind. Burning through the soldiers running for their lives, the blast wave moved up against the wall of wrecks enclosing it, ripping them from the ground and tossing the giant pieces of starships outwards like they were tiny pebbles.

And so the flying debris came soaring once again, but this time as a great wall of metal flying towards the remaining Republic troopers at an insane speed no snowspeeder could imitate.

The infantry dropped to the ground quickly, although the greater portion of them did get squashed against the sheer weight of metallic object ranging between smaller starfighter sizes to those weighing in several hundred tons. Soldiers watched their comrades flatten against enormous pieces of ships as the wave washed over them, roaring immensely as it passed.

The AT-ATs never saw true combat that day, they were swept along by the wave, becoming a part of it by themselves and were finally thrown several miles from their berth, their legs trailing behind them as they flew, exploding in small distant flashes against the horizon.

Smaller debris cluttered to the ground around the infantry forces, cleaving soldiers to pieces as they touched down, leaving their ground station a maze of ship-wrecks, the small open spaces available filled with Republic soldiers carved into pieces.

Survivors ranged around a handful of hundreds against the seven thousand initially. Although the few hundreds were still eager to fight and counted themselves as lucky to have survived, the battle for Regana was already over.

* * *

Eknath smiled radiantly, although the paling of his face proved his efforts to use the Force had been more exhausting than he'd anticipated. He relished the cool sensation of the wind brushing up against his face and slumbed down on his knees, his eyes frozen on the scattered Republic forces in the far distance, basking in the current of death that flowed through him from the Dark Side. With every scream, with every last exhalation on the battlefield, he was refilled and reborn.

Next to him Raine was still standing, showing nothing but a frown from his efforts. "There are still...some survivors," he observed.

Eknath chuckled merily. "Krych and the soldiers will clear out any stragglers." He'd barely said the words before they could both see their own soldiers march towards the remaining Republic forces at the foot of the structure they stood upon. Krych was riding up front on one of the vhroniks, red lightsaber blazing in his hand.

Raine looked down upon Eknath. "You don't look so good."

Eknath waved the comment aside and stood again. "The effort drained me. I am not as as strong as I used to be," he looked at Raine, "strangely, you don't seem affected."

He was affected, but not from the effort. The Dark Side was brushing up against him in subtle waves, forcing him to barricade himself within. However Raine found it possible to smile, even as the wave of death and misery was passing around him. "Maybe the new equilibrium of the Force differentiates between Dark and Light."

Eknath sneered at the comment. "Jovis will deal with the star destroyers in orbit, so its time we saw to our intruders."

Raine's chest tightened, and he spotted possibilites. Prosperous ones even. "I'll go." Before Eknath could intervene Raine turned on his heels and left the telepath to himself.

Eknath took a few more minutes to regain his strength and collected his cloak around him. His body felt heavy but his spirit was buoyed at the prospect of finally encountering this Kjoil apprentice. So far everything had happened according to the designs they'd envisioned and he was sure a mere apprentice could do nothing to stop them now.

Making his way across the roof to the lift, he began to sense something in Force, a tremor he'd never felt before and he stopped halfway to the lift. He turned his eyes to the sky, his ears slowly picking up on what sounded like a jet engine approaching. Could the star destroyers in orbit have already sent shuttles?

He doubted it. Nothing happened that he had not planned. He shrugged it off as the wind playing tricks on his ears and turned away -

And stared directly into the black visor of one Boba Fett.

Instinct conquered fear and Eknath's hands raised defensively to protect his face. Fett's armored right hand slammed into his stomach, throwing him back on the roof. Eknath groaned through the splitting pain and his blood froze to ice in his veins. For the first time in decades he felt scared for his life. Few things in life brought fear to his heart, but there were some that did, things like myths and legends. Unbeatable monsters for which there was no explanation.

Boba Fett's jetback was still venting exhaust that got towed by the wind, but his figure stood as if framed in rock upon the roof before him. Eknath looked over the bounty hunter in shock, the man a perfect blend between metal and weapons, a presence of sheer confidence and violence, staring at the fallen Eknath through his black visor. Eknath rolled away, eager to put distance between himself and Fett.

Fett changed the position of his feet, lifting his chin slightly.

Managing to get onto his feet after a new failing attempts, Eknath calmed his breathing, focusing all his mental powers upon the bounty hunter. But where he had expected to find a presence of outright death in the Force, a man who'd killed as many as Fett was sure to come off as the very presence of death, there was none.

Eknath tried again, holding out his hand at Fett, but sensed only a gaping hole in the Force. He began to chuckle lightly, genuinely impressed.

"Yes, I'd heard that about you. You're impervious to mind tricks. But it doesn't come from training, I see now. You're an...anamoly, a man untouched by the Force." Eknath kept his pride in check, standing straight, signaling he was undaunted and would face any eventual death with honor. "I suppose I should consider myself fortunate...to have stood in the company of Boba Fett for so long, and still breathe."

Fett stood like a statue wrapped in metal, not a single movement, barely even proof he was breathing. The psychological ploy had little, but still some effect on Eknath.

"What are you doing on Regana? Are you here to kill me, Fett? Or did you come for someone else? Who's the bounty?"

Light glistened off the armor, making him a presence of light within itself, a snake ready to strike, a wire pulled taut just waiting for the touch of a blade. He emanated hatred by just standing there, the fearlessness that scared his victims into submission, that cold aura of just playing with his prey.

Eknath refused to break. "It's not me, is it, Fett?" Eknath put as much spite into his voice as he could, his words the only weapons he had left. "You're not here for me. I doubt I've left anyone alive long enough to save up enough money to pay your fee."

Fett's chin lowered a milimeter.

"Ahh, I see," Eknath gloated. "It's the Kjoil apprentice, isn't it? Indeed."

Another milimeter.

It excited Eknath on numerous levels to outsmart someone like Fett. "You won't get your hands on him, my men will stop you. Is that what you really want? To be cut down like your father?"

Fett finally breathed, his helmet delivering the sound in a haunting mechanical state. "You don't really think you'll win, do you?"

Eknath growled. "I will kill you if I have to, Fett."

"You will try." Fett's armored gauntlet raised to aim at Eknath, the flamethrower attached there starting to light up -

A red lightsaber blade cut through the air between Fett and Eknath, causing both to step back as Tragedy stepped forward, putting himself in their center. Fett kept his flamethrower aimed at the young Joon, and Joon's lightsaber swirled around to point it's tip at Fett's helmet.

Eknath chuckled victoriously, safe behind Joon. "You have no part in this, Fett," Eknath said, his own voice full of venom, "whoever you came for, it goes no further than this. Like your father, you'll find the end of a lightsaber the easiest bounty you've ever caught."

Fett revealed no emotion but his flamethrower was still aimed at the young Joon, and Joon's lightsaber remained aimed at the bounty hunter's helmet.

Eknath moved out behind Joon, heading for the lift only a few steps away. "Yes, I'll leave you two freaks to settle this. I have work to do." Eknath reached the inside of the lift and activated its controls. "I would worry if I were you, Fett. Though he appears blind, Joon has killed more people in his short lifetime than you and your father combined." The liftdoors sealed before Eknath, leaving Joon and Fett on their own.

The wind made Joon's bandana flap against his shoulder, and the red lightsaber in his hand created highlights upon Fett's armor. It was a contest of wills, they both stood there motionless, waiting for the other to make the first move and start the fight. But Fett was a master of wills, and had a track record of zero mistakes. Joon was young, and although more powerful in the Dark Side than people three times his age, his strength came from only the Force.

Seconds became minutes, and Joon's outstretched arm holding the lightsaber began to spasm slightly. The tip of the lightsaber started to create tiny circles in the air before Fett, and yet the hunter stood frozen as ever.

Despite Joon's blindness, he could see the bounty hunter clearly through the Force. He could feel the hunter's presence and sense his movements. He could even sense the air around the hunter and would know exactly when and if the hunter made any sudden movements. He could also hear the hunter, hear his slow breathing, his armor's minuscule shuffling.

But Joon's senses had a limit.

The smallest of snowflakes hovered slowly between them and settled down on Joon's lightsaber. His level of focus made the sound of the snowflake melting on the blade equivalent to the sound of a supernova exploding right beside him.

Fett's gauntlet released a geyser of flame and Joon rotated his wrist, bringing his lightsaber around to defend himself.

* * *

Rishi had to slice his way into the section Kal was in. He knew where Kal was because the Jedi stood out like a beacon inside the station, not only because Rishi knew the aura the man brought to the Force. But because Kal was feeling the deaths happening outside and his sorrow and pain was a blinding light that Rishi was running towards. As for himself he dodged the sensation, pushing it away, expecting such an emotion to come. Some Jedi, when feeling such an amount of death, could be deafened by it.

Rishi chose to ignore the feeling, knowing he would gain nothing from sharing the deaths of his soldiers, his mission was different from theirs and he had to keep moving if he was going to make any kind of progress, if their deaths had to count for something. He knew it was cold of him, to not at least listen to the dying souls leaving this world, but he'd already had too much death on his mind.

Rishi dropped into the room, silencing his lightsaber.

Ironicly, since he was avoiding to listen to the deaths outside, it seemed death wasn't about to give up on him yet. The place was a two-leveled junction, with seven different entries and exits, easy access to the nearest walkways that led to the inner ring of buildings outside and as well as the main structure. Unlike the other buildings he'd been in, this one still contained some level of electricity, fixtures in the ceiling dropping in and out like an unsteady heartbeat. A line of coloumns separated the doorways, although a few of them were now fallen like giant logs on a forest floor.

Kal was standing in middle of the room, looking around at the floor. A floor covered in corpses.

Sons of Destiny corpses.

Rishi covered his mouth. "What the - ?"

"None of our teams have been through here. It was here before we arrived."

Rishi couldn't get the scent of death out of his nose, the bodies had laid there for days and begun to smell. They laid in awkward angles, clear signs of a battle, many missing limbs and some limbs missing owners. No blood. "They killed their own men?"

Kal looked at him, wet lines on his cheeks had dried. "I'm not sure."

Rishi crossed over to him. "Are you alright?"

"You must've sensed it too."

Rishi nodded. "Of course I did."

Kal looked away. "I've never felt anything like it."

"If we don't keep moving, you'll get the chance again."

Kal sighed. "I know. This room looks like what I felt. Except..."

Rishi waited, but Kal didn't finish. "Except what?"

One of the bodies in the room moved. Rishi and Kal both turned to see a single soldier lying on the floor, missing both legs. His hands were moving. Rishi drew his lightsaber and ignited the blade, wary of a trap. He ran over to stand over the crippled man.

"Who are you?" Rishi asked with a threat in his tone, keeping his lightsaber aimed at the fallen soldier.

Perhaps unable to move more than so, he only turned his face slightly to look at him, appearing to be in pain with even such a small motion. He spoke slowly, the pain making his voice tremble. "I'm...part of the army. A Son."

Rishi nodded, feeling the man's pain. He had compassion for the broken man, it was obvious the man was only minutes away from death. But he still wished in some part the soldier would talk faster because he had a million answers ready.

"What happened here?"

He closed his eyes, a shiver running through him that made him groan with agony. "He...killed them."

"Who?" Rishi asked. "Who killed them?"

"The clone."

Rishi felt safe putting his lightsaber away. "The clone of Skind Kjoil?"

He nodded slowly.

Rishi was confused. Why had this Kayupa killed his own men? "Why?"

He reopened his eyes, a fear behind those bloodshot ovals. "Revenge."

That only raised further questions. "Revenge? For what?"

Kal stepped up on the side of the wounded soldier. "Rishi, I don't think you're going to get anything cohesive out of him."

Rishi looked up at Kal, with a look that was intended to remind him who was in charge. "He's all we got."

"Maybe we should heal him up first."

Rishi looked back down at the man, deeming his wounds to be unmendable. The way he saw it he might as well get as much out of him as he could. Even if he couldn't get everything he could at least get pieces of the puzzle. "Kayupa - he was leading the army, wasn't he?"

The soldier looked surprised at the mention of that name. "Y-yes. How did you - " he started coughing, drops of blood dotted his clothes and chin. "He's still here...but I don't know where."

Rishi nodded, mostly to himself. "I'll find him, don't worry," he said with a hint of anger in his voice. "Where's the rest of the army?"

He coughed again, each cough filling him with pain. "The clone...he killed most of them."

Rishi remembered the impressive, but arguably small army he'd seen earlier charging out of the hangar. "But...there were twenty thousand?"

The soldier finished coughing, shaking his head as much as he could afford without causing more pain. The soldier let out a breath of heavy air, his eyes starting to water. "He was alone...all he had was a lightsaber...and the Force. I've seen Jedi fight. I know what they can do. But he...he was a whirlwind. He moved through this station...like the hand of death itself. Sweeping through every chamber...every hangar...every inch of every corner. Killing mercilessly. He was unstoppable," his voice broke, the tears flowing down his face mixed with blood, "I tried to stop him...he took my legs..."

Rishi felt the pain radiating off the dying soldier, but pushed it aside. He needed more information. "What happened to Kayupa? Why did he kill his own men?"

The soldier's eyes started to fade, his life ebbing away.

Rishi grabbed the man hard by the collar. "Answer me! Why did he kill - "

"Rishi!" Kal urged. "Let him go!"

RIshi's eyes flashed anger towards Kal. "Shut up, Kal!" He turned back to the soldier. "Where is the clone!"

But the soldier was already gone. What remained of his his body went lax in Rishi's grip and Rishi let go of the collar, the dead body flattening on the floor. Rishi wiped his blood-soaked hand on his thigh and stood, instantly searching the rest of the bodies for anyone still alive.

Kal glared frustrated at Rishi's back. "You're not helping matters by roughing up dying men, Rishi."

Rishi's eyes rolled. "Stow it, Kal. This is bigger than me or you."

Kal's frustration turned into incomprihention. "What is?"

"Finding the truth. Something very wrong happened here, Kal. Kayupa killed his own men, and we don't know why. Something is moving in the Force, can't you feel it?"

Kal shook his head. "Maybe I could...if the Force wasn't being drowned in your anger and fear."

Rishi swirled to face Kal. "_Fear_? I'm not afraid - "

"Rishi," Kal urged again, but without hostility in his tone. "Listen to yourself. You're breaking apart on the inside, that much I can sense."

Rishi was afraid to look at himself. He sighed deeply and rested his hands on his hips. "None of it makes sense, Kal. I don't get it. If this Kayupa is as powerful in the Force as he said, why can't we pinpoint him? Why hasn't Admiral Saul bombarded this repair yard into the ground by now?"

A new voice rose above their low muttering. "If you want Finality - "

Kal and Rishi turned as one, instantly raising their lightsabers, seeing the source of the voice, what seemed to be an old hunched-over man standing in one of the entryways. Jedi Master Raine smiled at the two young men, with all the warmth of an uncle happy to see his younger family relatives again.

" - Then that's why I'm here."

* * *

The Jedi Master dropped into a seating on one of the fallen columns, settling in with the kind of groan only elderly people could produce, as if all the weight of the world was on their shoulders. He looked around at the dead soldiers, his face scrunching up.

Rishi leaned against the column beside him while Kal kept to himself elsewhere. Rishi didn't know what to think about this Raine. But he knew now that this man was the light he'd sensed on Regana from the _Masamune_. The light in the Force that shone against the growing darkness.

But this Jedi, Jedi Master even, had sided with the Sons of Destiny, he'd probably helped them kill Master Skar. Yet not the slightest taint of darkness emanated off the old man, not a hint of a shadow. Jedi Master Raine was a sun in a world of dying stars, the Force shining through him at full blaze.

"Why are you working with them?" Rishi asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm not," the old man countered. "I am merely fulfilling my purpose."

"Your _purpose_?"

Raine nodded and his eyes seemed to gaze into the past. "I am a Jedi of the old kind. A servant of the Force. For many years the Force has kept me at Riokon's side. I doubted its intentions initially, but I've come to understand that the Force works not only in mysterious ways," he smiled happily, "but also in very slow ways."

Rishi remained cold, wary of deception. "You've..._killed_, in their service?"

Raine's eyes centered on Rishi with great strength. "I have done what the Force _wanted _me to do, son."

Rishi raised his chin. "Why differentiate yourself from me?"

Raine hugged his cane to his chest. "Just like the Jedi, a Kjoil is also a child of the Force. But they are arrogant, selfish, egotistical brats. They believe themselves to be the _will _of the Force, unlike the Jedi which believe themselves to be _servants _of its will. No one knows the real truth, but, as with so many other things, truth is individual."

Rishi shrugged. "And?"

Raine's eyes squinted, a deviousness shining through. "You didn't come here because it felt right. Infact, this is possibly the last place in the Galaxy you want to be, am I right?"

Rishi found it hard to refute. "A sniper couldn't have hit closer to mark."

Raine's eyes stayed locked but his face moved slightly to the side. "But you still came...because you wanted to change something."

Rishi began to object. "I came to stop - "

"You _came_," Raine intervened, "to change the outcome of his fate."

"Don't be ridiculous," Rishi said with a snort, "I knew he was dead, I can feel it."

"I'm not talking about dead," Raine replied, a layer of spite to his voice, "being dead doesn't mean the journey ends. You're here to collect his body."

Rishi looked at his feet. "That's right. I...don't want to leave him here. He..." Rishi thought better of continuing that debate. "Anyway, what happened here? Who are the Sons of Destiny?"

Raine chuckled again, a dry cackle. "From the beginning, I see. Proper. Let's see...the founding members of the Sons of Destiny were two Jedi who decided to go rogue shortly before the Clone Wars. They sensed something was wrong, felt the Republic and the Jedi Order were slipping. They decided to leave the Order, a few other Jedi, ones like me, eventually joining them."

"They retreated to the Unknown Regions, a space much larger then than it is now. For almost two decades they traveled the uncharted, pulling more and more to their group. Eventually they became mercenaries and bounty hunters, amassing an enormous wealth which they wisely used to gather better weapons and greater ships. Like nomads they explored the Unknown Regions, earning a living off domestic war."

Rishi scratched his chin. "Why are they back in known space?"

"Despite their distaste for the Republic's way of thinking, they did not stay ignorant to events in their old home. They devised a plan, gathering all their forces and resources for a single mission; to rebuild the Galaxy as they once knew it, as they felt it should be. They abandoned their nomad ways, and became crusaders for an ideal, for a purpose." Raine sounded almost proud. "They believed it was their destiny to acheive that mission. That is why they are here. To rebuild their home."

Rishi heard that Bothan voice in his head again. _The Sons of Destiny are not a terrorist group_. It made sense finally. The Bothan didn't regard them as a hostile group because he was one of them, one of the faithful. To him it would have been an honorable mission. "What about the spy network on Coruscant?"

Raine's eyes showed ignorance. "The spy network?"

Rishi nodded. "Rarsk Dokyan. The Bothan informant on Coruscant. He told me the Sons of Destiny have been secretly controlling the New Republic for many years, using lies and blackmail as a weapon to control and shape it," Rishi felt that old taste of bile in his mouth again, "to learn about it, to weaken it for a take-over."

Raine snorted. "And you trusted this Bothan?"

Rishi opened his mouth to talk, only then to realize his mistake. _Trust no one_. Could it have been a lie? But then why would Boba Fett kill the Bothan, if not as a retaliation for his betrayal?

Rishi looked away, gathering pieces. _Trust no one_. If he couldn't trust anyone, what could he trust? Himself? He was already working on clues he believed to be facts, like the Bothan claimed to have been doing for years. Either the Bothan was lying, or this Jedi Master was. Who did he want to trust the most? Were they both liars?

"So there never was a Bothan?"

Raine snickered. "Oh, no. We used a Bothan to pick out a small mercenary unit which we hired to take care of smaller objectives. But anything other than that we are not responsible for."

Rishi ground his own nails into his biceps. "He lied to me."

Raine shook his head. "Not nessicarily. It is possible he was doing the things he suggested, just not for the Sons of Destiny. We were already convinced the New Republic was heading for a fall. Why would we bother tearing it apart from the inside?"

Rishi shrugged. "To weaken it?"

Raine snickered again. "The New Republic is _already _weak. We've engaged groups and governments in the Unknown Regions that put up a better fight, that put up better stradegies than the Republic has so far." Raine shrugged. "Face it, boy; the Republic is doomed to fail, with or without us."

Rishi couldn't help agree with those words. They spoke to a fact he'd long thought to only belong to himself. But to actually destroy the Republic? He could never have thought of doing such a thing. It had never occured to him that maybe the Republic couldn't be fixed. That maybe the flaw was something inherently wrong with the internal structure of the Republic. Too many people in charge.

Too many opinions to apease.

Raine nodded, as if he could hear Rishi's thoughts. "Yes...an empire. The Emperor was evil, a twisted man. But not all of him was wrong. He maintained stability through tyranny. And if you think about it, the only people who believed it was wrong were remnants of the Old Republic. People trying to bring back the old ways," he shook his head, "people wanting revenge. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

Rishi nodded. "What do the Sons of Destiny plan to do differently?"

Raine groaned again. "Their plan is more in the ways of Palpatine, although not as drastic. They _will _destroy Coruscant, since they believe it to be the cornerstone of everything wrong with this Galaxy. Once Coruscant is made inhabitable, the army will fan out across the Galaxy, spreading the word of freedom, appealing to every system." Raine's eyes dimmed. "You see, son, there are many truths in this Galaxy, and the Sons of Destiny believe not to have the _only _way, but certainly the _best _way."

"The world will have to start fending for themselves, start to realize that they have to re-evaluate their beliefs. The Sons of Destiny don't care what they find out, all they're asking is that the systems start to plan ahead, start to think for themselves. The army will stay behind as a guardian program, steadily expanding their sphere of influence, while protecting the outer regions."

Rishi did his best not to smirk. "And you seriously believe that is going to happen?"

"Doesn't matter what I believe," Raine said with little emotion, "a minute ago you believed a Bothan alone was masterminding the Republic. And ten minutes ago you were beating up a dying man."

Rishi frowned. "What's your point?"

"My point is this;" Raine's voice took on an edge of hostility, "your recklessness and your easily deceived mind is exactly the kind of thing the Sons of Destiny are trying to destroy. People like you, people without any sense of honor, without any sense of right or wrong. People easily chewing up whatever is fed to them."

Rishi's muscles tightened. "You can't just - "

"You came here to pick _a dead body_, boy. All of these people died, all these Republic soldiers. The Republic knows their forces have fallen and yet not a single bomb has fallen on us."

Rishi stepped forward. "Because they're waiting for me to stop the terrorists, or fail trying. If I failed they would - "

"Send in the army," Raine finished his sentence, "and they already did. They believe you to be dead already. But the army failed as well." Raine's brows lifted. "And still no bombs."

Rishi searched hard for a logical answer. "They're...worried about the hostages."

Raine chuckled. "The advancement of the army and its ground armament was supposed to _destroy_ the station, Rishi. They have already given up on the hostages. And, a hundred hostages or not, this place should have been destroyed long ago. Do you know why the Republic doesn't want to bomb this place?"

"No," Rishi admitted finally.

"Because of the secret deep in the bottom of this station. An old cloning facility left behind from when this was an Imperial base. If they bombed the facility would surely be destroyed, but the cannons on an AT-AT and the ground units would not so. I'm not saying your Bothan friend was right, but it makes sense to believe someone wants the genetic codes, the samples, that are still available here. Genetic codes for many of history's greatest warriors, the sharpest generals, the brightest of our past. Believe it or not," Raine's voice was hard as rock, "that _is _what is happening."

Rishi could feel dark talons crawling up his shoulders and decided he didn't need to hear anymore. "Who killed these men?"

Raine looked out at the many dead soldiers, some humanity coming through his tired eyes. aine exhaled again. "I'm surprised you don't recognize the handiwork. The calling card of your race...see the wounds, boy," Raine nodded towards the dead soldiers, "see the clean cuts. This was not malevolent. It was quick deaths all around. Easily dispersed. You must recognize it...you must have seen bodies treated this way before," Raine's eyes looked back to Rishi, "or are you the type to never look back, to see the dead in his wake?"

Rishi wasn't willing, but the old man's words struck some chord. He looked at the closest corpse; decapitated, several more dead by same method nearby, their rifles still fully loaded, no other wounds. They'd been dead the moment they stepped into the fight, the moment they raised their weapons.

None of them had a chance. Jedi didn't fight this way, Jedi disarmed before they killed. Sith preferred to induce as much pain as possible, feeding off their victim's pain. Those talons on his tattooed shoulders started to dig into his bones.

"A Kjoil did this."

Raine nodded.

Rishi couldn't fight the realization; couldn't beat back the light shining right into his eyes. "Master Skar did this."

Raine looked saddened. "Yes. You've been looking for the truth, and it has been staring you in the face. You chose not to acknowledge it. Deep in your heart you know you are catering a lie."

Rishi looked back to the Jedi Master. "Why?"

Raine shook his head. "I do not know. I never spoke with him, never even saw him. But I felt him." He shivered. "Indeed...I felt him. I've seen Darkness, boy. I've fought it. Your Master pulled upon the Force with such passion, such unquenchable thirst, that the rest of us felt drained. Powerful he was," Raine said as a matter of warning, "too powerful."

Rishi heard the words, but they didn't register. He stood in a room filled dead corpses, hundreds of them, limbs everywhere, blood drenching the floor. Master Skar was a great fighter, a fast fighter. But this was beyond him. This wasn't honorable, this wasn't justifiable.

It was slaughter, this was the work of someone who liked the taste of death, the feel of it.

"Did Kayupa make him do this?"

Raine looked away, folding into himself. "From a certain point of view."

Rishi's eyes darted back to Raine. "How?"

Raine hesitated, his eyes refusing to look at Rishi. "The one you call Kayupa, is Koll Riokon and he is the General of this army." Raine closed his eyes and took in a breath, trembling by the effort. "And he is the father of Skar Kjoil, the man your Master lovingly called Kayupa."

Rishi stood there, hearing the words over in his head. Eventually they became pieces of sentences, fractured, incoherent. It made no sense at all. _Trust no one_. Was this Raine feeding him lies, trying to get him to act out in some way? Rishi scoffed it off, but there was something underlying.

Something that made him think about it.

"Yes," Raine said in a low voice, "feel it. Search me all you want, and you will know I'm telling you the truth." Raine opened his eyes, those moist ovals finding Rishi in the room. "Your Master was the _real _clone of Skind Kjoil."

The words were a bombardment upon Rishi's emotion, a tidal wave crashing against his very heart. Every technique he knew instantly moved into position to counter himself from going mad, but there was no defense against such weaponry. Rishi felt like someone had knocked the air out of him, his insides deflating. He had to kneel down, only to keep himself from falling over.

Kal came over quickly and hunched down next to him. "What's wrong, Rishi?"

Raine looked at the two young men with sympathy. "A clone produces a disturbance in the Force if the proper precautions are not taken. The bloom in power you sense in the Force, comes from the death of your Master. Skind Kjoil is finally devoid of his presense in this world," he closed his eyes again, "there was no easy way to tell you, young Rishi. But it is the truth. The truth you had to hear." Raine closed himself inside the Force and extended his strength to Rishi. "That...is why I came."

* * *


	3. At The Edge Of Darkness

Krych couldn't decide who thirsted for battle more; him or Talon. The monster pounded across the snow with every breath in it's bodu, trambling towards the maze of shipwrecks where the remaining surviors of the Republic army were franticly gathering together. What was left of the Republic army was scattered across a landscape more than a mile wide, littered with disassembled ship parts the size of houses. Even at two miles away, beneath the dim of death, he could feel their panic, their struggle to mount an offense inside their labyrinth of metal.

And it fed him in turn, nurturing the Dark Side that had already claimed all but a fragment of his soul. Beneath the polished mask his lips peeled back in vicious grin, aching for fighting, aching to inflict pain. Wanting more than anything to hear and feel his lightsaber slashing up throats, chests and faces. Anything to sate the pain already inside of him. He desired the screaming, the horrible painful screaming of his enemies.

Instead of running around the first obstruction they reached Talon leapt from the ground onto the large sheet of metal that reached up towards the sky. His claws stabbed into the surface and he climbed up the side of it, Krych hugging his reins, reaching the peak and then jumping down on the other side.

Republic soldiers cried out in delightful terror as Talon came crashing down upon them, his powerful limbs and tail thrashing in their midst. Bodies were tossed to the wind, screaming for their lives before they smashed against metallic surfaces or broke their necks as they impacted with the ground.

Talon's tail wagged in frenzied glee as he mauled his way through the enemy, and never once did Talon save one for devouring, his mind was set in the same mode as Krych's; this was about killing, not eating.

Krych himself swung his red blade in grand circles around him as Talon prawled the killing fields, severing heads and bouncing bolts back at their owners. A faceless monster mowing through the enemy ranks from his loyal pet's back. He became the war itself, spreading his awareness to every living soul around him, feeding off their emotions. And never sustaining a single injury he hunted them down one by one, leaving a trail of dead in snow behind him and Talon as they swept through the maze.

Behind him and Talon their own soldiers finally reached the area, their rifles sweeping across the fields, gunning down the fleeing Republic soldiers. Bereft of honor, they dropped to the snow, their backs riddled with bolts, left to die on a world where no Republic would come for their bodies.

Krych hadn't noticed it until late in the slaughter but he tasted blood upon his tongue. His jaws had been clenched so tight several of his teeth had broken loose inside his mouth and he spat them out through the mask, biting down harder and relishing the pain and the taste of his own blood.

His soldiers charged past his sides, yelling their battlecries, mowing across the snow and through the impossible mazes. It was all over too quickly for him, in retrospect he wished he'd left the Sons of Destiny back inside the repair yard. He wished he could have had them all to himself. The wind around him cleared up his visibility and beyond the killing field he saw a large shape begin to form.

His ferocious grin dripped blood down his throat, but the sight of a grounded star destroyer just waiting to be pillaged made him kick his heels into Talon's rips. The vhronik monster charged towards the _Masamune_, knocking aside even his own men as he raced to get there first.

A moment of jealousy overtook him, he wanted all of the survivors onboard the destroyer to himself, although he had a feeling there were nowhere near enough onboard to satisfy his thirst for carnage.

* * *

Anyone that found themselves in the unfortunate situation of going head to head with a Jedi, would consider running away to be their best chance at survival. Jedi were fast, unpreditable, resourceful; basically unbeatable. For millenia they'd survived on magic and an outdated weapon, their own mystiscm worked as a weapon in itself. They were supernatural fighters that could read emotions and predict future movements. They were the perfect warriors, and in history the only thing that had been able to insure their fall was overwhelming in sheer numbers.

Then again, the same thing could be said for Mandalorians, and Boba Fett _was _a one man army.

Fett blasted off from the roof using his jetpack, Joon's lightsaber cutting a wide fissure in the air beneath him where he'd just been. Activating his flamethrower on his gauntlet the bounty hunter layed out a thick fan of napalm that washed the blind youth on the roof in fire, while his jetpack took him higher and even further from Joon's lethal weapon. But Joon launched from the roof like a missile, free of the fire although the ends of his bandana had been scorched in the heat.

Joon settled in the air on invisible cushions at Fett's level, his red blade stabbing out. Fett contorted his body, leaning back, letting the blade sweep clean across his chest. Using the momentum Fett kicked out his legs, catching Joon in the midsection and pushing him away. Joon's arms and legs flayed wildly until he dropped back down on the roof, rolling to a stand, instantly charged.

Fett still flew through the air above, switching to his rocket dart launcher. The first dart stabbed through the wind but Joon easily brushed it aside with his lightsaber. The second dart fell on the same course and Joon once again intercepted it with his blade. But this one was different, this one had a small concentration of explosives and Joon was thrown back by the detonation, sliding to a halt at the edge of the roof.

Feeling brave, Fett touched back down on the opposite end of the roof and, despite the weight of his armor, ran for Joon. Joon managed to jump to a stand at the last second, but only to ram his face into Fett's fist. Fett damned himself a second later for not using the gauntlet's blades as Joon withstood the punch easily and knocked the hunter back with a push of the Force.

Fett trashed down onto the roof and Joon came at him, swirling his lightsaber as a mocking gesture. Fett rolled onto his belly quickly and pushed himself up, igniting his jetpack. But Joon's lightsaber strafed his back before he could rocket off and the jetpack exploded between them. Joon side-jumped away from the blast but Fett was slammed into the roof, armor bent and burning.

A groan filtered through his helmet and the hunter hugged his broken right arm tight to his chest as he rose. Joon stalked the Mandalorian, chuckling lightly. By all evidence it seemed Boba Fett was down for the count, broken and defeated. And the Dark Jedi Joon was slowly circling him, coming from to Fett's front, lightsaber ready to end the fight.

Fett remained proud, facing Joon directly, staring at him through his visor. Joon spun the lightsaber one last time and raised it, leveling it at Fett's neck. Joon seemed to wait for Fett to surrender or say something, but nothing except filtered breathing escaped his helmet.

Joon frowned dissapointedly and decided to end it. But before his lightsaber could connect with his neck, Fett's left hand grabbed onto Joon's wrist and twisted it around, relieving Joon of the lightsaber.

Joon yelped in pain. Fett then delievered a head-butt, the helmet ramming into Joon's face. While immobilized, Fett still maintaining a grip on the boy's wrist, the hunter spun himself around, pulling Joon off the ground and threw the light-weighted boy over his shoulder. Joon cried loudly as his body touched down, franticly clawing at his own wounded limbs.

Fett hissed through his helmet and extended two sharpened blades from his left wrist. Normally they were best suited for climbing, but the hunter seemed satisfied with using them to cut Joon into pieces. Joon was still lying on the ground, covered in snow, as Fett resolutely approached him, one arm tugged into his waist, the other brandishing a set of lethal daggers.

"Playtime's over, kid," Fett declared menacingly as he finally reached the young boy, holding the gauntlet's blade to his face.

Fett pulled his hand back to but the boy rolled away as the blades stabbed into the ground. Joon didn't roll far, he countered his roll next to Fett and landed a kick on the hunter's shin, dropping Fett onto his side, the blades breaking off at wrist as he fell. Joon jumped to a stand and called the lightsaber to his hand, grinning victoriously.

But before he could use it on the bounty hunter, Fett unleashed a snare from his wrist, tying Joon's hands together at the wrists. The boy managed to preserve his grip on the saber but he snarled at the capture nonetheless. Desperate to end the fight Joon started to hack the roof with his lightsaber which Fett evaded by crawling and rolling.

Joon's lightsaber worked too well; stepping onto a section he'd hacked with the lightsaber, the roof fell apart beneath him and Joon tumbled through, snow falling around him and pieces of ceiling following him.

Before even thinking it, Fett produced a thermal detonator from his armor, activated the timer and sent it down the hole. The blast launched Fett from the roof as the surface bulged outward, straining the roof itself. He touched down again uncontrolled, crying out in filtered agony.

Heavy smoke drifted from the hole in the roof, but no Joon reappeared. Fett laid himself out flat, exhaled and savored the silence for several minutes. His broken arm ached but a lifetime of battle and injuries far worse allowed him to ignore it. He watched snowflakes melt on his visor and slowly collected himself, getting up to a standing position with delicate effort.

He stepped over to the edge of the hole, using his helmet's sensors to scan for the young boy. The level below was black and torn apart, the flooring and walls slightly melted from the detonator's impact. He could see down several levels, smoke and destruction obstructing him from seeig details. Fire danced here and there but there was no sign of Joon.

"Blast," he muttered to himself, and counted his damages. Blades were gone, the jetpack was in pieces, pieces of his armor were wrecked and useless, the flamethrower was running on empty and he had one broken arm. If Joon was waiting for him, he had no chance of winning the fight.

Biting down hard on his teeth, Fett tighted his good hand around his broken arm and with one quick powerful pull the arm snapped back into place.

_Now _it was a fair fight.

Fett pulled out another grenade, a flashbang grenade, set the trigger and let it bounce down into the hole. Flash grenades caused minimal physical damage, but could blind enemies for several seconds. It was highly effective in situations where confusion could help counter superior forces. He activated his visor's shield setting and dropped into the hole the moment the grenade blew.

The visor dulled the flash and Fett used this advantage to scan the surroundings. Joon was already waiting, stepping out behind Fett. As Fett saw him, and his bandage, he managed to remember the boy was blind, which made the flash grenade pointless, just before Joon kicked him, sending him tumbling down into the lower level. Even before his back smashed against the flooring, Fett sent an angry salvo of blasterbolts from his gauntlet up at Joon, which the boy effortlessly whipped aside with his lightsaber.

The lower level was a council room of sorts, the walls had been redesigned to grand viewing screens which displayed countless images from around the Galaxy of local scenery and art. An elaborate dining table was at the center of the room, a diamond-shaped table with a small crystal volcano on top. Four of the five walls were holoscreens, but the fifth was a viewscreen showing the mountains outside.

Joon joined him in the council room just as Fett backed away from beneath the hole in the ceiling and awaited the boy's next move. Joon's free hand reached out to the dining table and with one swipe of his hand, the heavy table lifted from the floor and flew at Fett. Fett's only defense was holding up his arms to absorb the impact, but the table's size and weight was considerable and Fett was flattened against one of the viewing screens. He cried out in pain, the screen behind him breaking into a million pieces.

Joon raised his hand again and the table lifted off Fett -

- only to crash down upon him again much harder.

Joon chuckled and when his mouth opened, a voice much older than Joon himself spoke. "What a pitiful creature you are, Fett. A relic. You should have died along with your father and all of his mindless drones," Eknath chuckled, "perhaps now you wonder; are these the thoughts that went through your father's head before he died?"

Fett groaned beneath the heavy table, his fingers clutching the edges of the table, trying to lift it off him.

Joon hefted his lightsaber. "You should take comfort knowing that I will take care of the Kjoil you came for - "

Fett released an inhuman scream, the filter in his helmet adding even terrible effects to the sound. And by an invisible force the table lifted from Fett, slowly but surely, releasing him. The table moved sideways and dropped suddenly down next to him. Joon stepped back, as Fett was freed and the hunter revealed a ready detonator in his palm.

Joon raised his lightsaber.

"Five seconds, kid," Fett said calmly, and he juggled the detonator in his hand. "Better hurry."

The boy quickly reached out to the detonator and pulled it from Fett's hand with the Force, throwing it through and out the window behind him. The grenade detonated just outside the viewscreen, filling the chamber with a powerful light for a few seconds.

With Joon's attention drawn to the grenade, Fett had just enough time to get up and throw himself at the boy. Fett smashed into Joon's back like a wild dewback and the two fought even as they rolled across the floor, delieving kicks and punches at short range. Fett added a few more head-butts to the count, and finally managed to pry the lightsaber from the boy's palm.

They came out of the roll at the edge of the torn window, Fett pinning Joon to the ground. The boy yelped and snarled, but Fett regarded him calmly, lightsaber in his right aloft hand.

"Sorry, kid. You can have it back when you're old enough," he said and tossed it out to the window.

Joon cried out in anger and released a powerful wave of the Force. Fett was lifted off Joon's body and slammed into the ceiling above him. Joon rolled away to the safe side of the window's edge as Fett came crashing back down.

Fett was weakened and when he tried to stand his arms failed. Joon walked up to his side, the wind outside pulling his bandana's trails, and kicked Fett in the ribs, launching him ever closer to the edge of the window. Fett cried out in pain, but even the anger and the pain couldn't give him the strength he needed to fight back.

"I'm sorry, bounty hunter," Eknath spoke through Joon in a mocking voice, "but this - " Joon kicked again, "- is -" another kick, "- the -" and another, "- end!"

Fett flattened against the floor, one arm and helmet dangling outside the window, life starting to fade out of him. Everything was darkened, with only a few stars dancing around in front of his visor.

"Off to see your father," Eknath said through Joon, while the boy wiped sweat from his face, "and all the rest of his _soul-less _clones!"

Joon pulled back his foot for a final kick but as it came at Fett, the hunter caught it at the shin and pushed outwards, throwing Joon onto his back. Fett stood up again, slower this time, clutching his wounds and groaning with pain, but still willing to fight.

Joon raised his hands and and lightning poured from his fingers. "Die, you sick freak!" Eknath thundered omniously, "the world no longer needs you!"

The lightning touched Fett and washed over his body, but he showed no pain. The electrical charges merely moved over his clothes and armor, continuing to build but appearing to belong on his body, like the evil that had spawned them had found a match in him. Fett grinned, his body alight with blue sparks of energy that coursed over his every pore.

Joon roared again and continued to send more powerful streams of lightning at the unaffected Fett. Fett raised a hand, the lightning playfully dancing around his fingers. And then, while the blue tendrils moved across his body, Fett's helmet suddenly looked out at the window behind him, as if wary of some danger.

"Sorry, kid," Fett said, "I ain't got time to play with you anymore."

Joon's lightning onslaught stopped and the boy stared at him confused as Fett deliberately took one backwards step out the window, unleashing his snare just as he lost footing. The snare attached itself to an unseen ledge and the gauntlet started to retract. Fett was whisked out of sight outside the window, and Joon laid alone on the floor of the council chamber, wind pulling at his bandana.

Joon got up and walked to the window, staring in all directions for the hunter. There was nothing there, except the dark clouds above the distant mountains. Joon's eyeless face crunched up and he felt his Master calling. Although most of Joon's soul was directly under Eknath's control, there were some shreds of him that were still his own. For instance the ability to feel fear for his Master's absolute zero tolerance for failure.

* * *

_No, no, no, no..._

He didn't know when it had happened, but at some point he must have fallen backwards into his command chair on the bridge of the _Masamune_. The holographic projection of the battlefield appeared to be malfunctioning, or so he hoped. None of the soldiers were moving, the AT-ATs and the snowspeeders were gone. Nothing, not a single sign of life. They were dead.

Seven.

Thousand.

Soldiers.

Dead in only a few minutes.

Admiral Saul's head was shaking involuntarily. It couldn't be possible. How had they wiped out his entire army so fast? He stared dazed into the hologram, searching for a single movement, something that wasn't just a flicker in the relay.

His fingers tapped the controls on his armrest. "This is Admiral Saul of the _Masamune_, is anyone out there?"

As he expected there was no return. Not even static.

"This is Admiral Saul of the _Masamune_, respond!" he shouted, refusing to believe it, someone had to be alive out there. "General Davon, this is a direct order! Respond immediately!"

"Admiral," a voice spoke up behind him, one of his junior officers, "scans show no activity outside. They're all gone, sir."

Admiral Saul turned his chair around to face the officer. "What happened?"

"Sir, our last visuals show a high concentration of...debris, pieces of disassembled starships hitting the battle site. We don't know where the debris came from, or how it traveled, but...well, we don't really know anything, Admiral."

Starships. Admiral Saul remembered the scrapyard of ships that he'd seen on his first surveillance of the base, how innocently it had looked. He'd never included it among his calculations for an assault. How could he have known?

He straightened out. "Get us off the ground, immediately!"

"Yes, sir."

He looked back at the holographic projection again, the thousands of shiphulls were still lying out there, small hills of spaceships cluttering the fields. He tapped the controls by his hand.

A full-sized hologram of the _Ronin_'scaptain appeared before him. "_Ronin_, this is the _Masamune_, do you copy?"

The man nodded crisply. "Captain Kerner here, Admiral. What's going on down there?"

Admiral Saul stood up from his chair. "Our ground forces are gone," he made sure to talk as fast as he could before he could linger on the reality behind the words, "we've lost the battle and it is imperative that we immediately notify High Command. We need authorization for a full-scale planetary bombardment."

Captain Kerner tilted his head. "Admiral, I'm sure we - " he trailed off, his eyes looking at something Saul couldn't see, something outside of the _Ronin_'s viewports. The captain's eyes widened and his face went pale with fear. "...by the Force."

Admiral Saul stepped forward. "What's happening, Captain?"

Captain Kerner was still hypnotized, eyes blank. "The orbital repair yards...they're powering up..."

Admiral Saul felt ivy running down his spine. "But they're all empty, there's no way they could power up on - "

A man stepped through the hologram itself right before his eyes, clad in arcane armor and twirling a red lightsaber in his hand. An armored hand knocked the Admiral to the floor, sending him sliding across its polished surface, only to bump up against the short section of wall beneath his viewports.

The armored man's face was disguised behind a haunting mask and his sickening chuckle drowned out the sound of the officers in their workpits on the bridge getting gunned down by enemy soldiers.

Krych tilted his head. "Leaving so soon, Admiral?"

* * *

Captain Kerner of the _Ronin _stared mesmerized at the giant orbital repair yards drifting close to their proximity in the empty space outside. The _Ronin _and the _Infinity _was right in their center, the stations hovering around them like starships dead in space. Shaped like a giant silvery sphere with an outer ring of boxy hangars, their surfaces came alive with a million lights all at once.

Smaller even combined compared to the star destroyers, and although they were origninally designed for repair and maintenance, they were still armed with heavy artillery, enough to put a serious dent in their defenses.

And they were right there, right outside his viewports. Captain Kerner stumbled back a few steps, panic taking him.

"Captain!" someone yelled from the workpits. "Captain, do we open fire!"

He juggled his chances. Two two star destroyers with full shields and full armament and hangars packed with starfighters could easily blow those stations out of space, even if they had the element of surprise on their side.

Captain Kerner's mouth opened to confirm -

"This is..._Commander_Jovis of the Sons of Destiny," a slightly hesitant but loud voice broke through over their comm systems, "any attempt to retaliate will result in the destruction of your ships, as well as your lives."

Captain Kerner cleared his throat and allowed himself a smug smile. "Commander Jovis, this is Captain Kerner of the _Ronin_. I urge you to reconsider your threat. Surrender now and I will detain myself from blasting these pitiful defense into dust."

This Jovis laughed confidently. "By all means; that's why they are there. The orbital repair yards are devoid of life, and I am aware of their defensive capabilities," the way his voice rose it was clear that Jovis was leaning into his microphone, "I have my finger on their self-destruct switch as we speak, Captain."

Kerner's eyes widened and his mouth stood open. The repair yards were close enough for him to see intricate details on their hulls outside the viewports. If this Jovis detonated them the blast would -

"Correct, Captain; the combined blastwave at that proximity would engulf your star destroyers like a ball of snow next to a thermal detonator." Jovis chuckled. "You have lost, Captains. Admiral Saul is already our prisoner and your ground forces are evaporated. Do not throw away your lives and your ships so carelessly."

Captain Kerner tasted defeat at the back of his throat. The defiant and honorable part of him wanted to fight to the death rather than surrendering himself and his crew to these terrorists. But he realized going out in a blaze of glory would certainly kill his crew and surrender offered a slim chance that they might survive. He was loyal to the Republic and proud of his ship, but he wasn't a fool.

"Alright," Captain Kerner swallowed hard, "name your demands."

"Captain Kerner of the _Ronin _and Captain Cygan of the _Infinity _will board shuttles and travel to Hope's Haven. You'll be given landing instructions upon your approach. We have arranged a very unformal gathering in your honor," Jovis grinned, "suggest you do not keep us waiting."

* * *

He was getting used to the scent of death that clung to his nostrils, no longer horrified to see the bodies that laid by his feet. He could sit alone on a mountain of dead, staring into the wall on the other side of the room without even noticing any of it. It had become part of a world that brought him pain, a world that had just turned upside down in the last half hour. Nothing was the same anymore, no one was a friend, and nowhere was there any peace to be found.

Rishi Kjoil sat with interlocked fingers on a hill of corpses, listening to the Force, letting it cool the anger in his gut that longed for venting. He decided he wasn't going to let it win this time. He always blew whenever he got furious, but this time he would let it fade. All it took was time and thought, and although he knew he really didn't have the time for either, he felt he needed it.

That voice appeared in his head again. _He's telling you the truth, Rishi._

Rishi snorted. _I thought you said I shouldn't trust anyone._

_You shouldn't...his motives may change, since even he doesn't know where he is headed. But I tell you now his words are no lie._

_I wasn't talking about him_, Rishi replied,_ I meant you._

_I would prefer if you didn't trust me._

Rishi found whoever was speaking to him to be a nuisance. _Why bother talking to me if you know I won't trust you?_

_You don't need to trust me. But that doesn't mean what I tell you is a lie. It's your task to seperate the truth from fiction. The truth is found beneath the lies. An answer cannot be found, without a question._

Rishi looked over at Jedi Master Raine, busy conversing with Kal. _If what he said is truth, where is his lie?_

_He is a lie._

Rishi shuddered at those words. _What?_

_I know when you look upon him you see a wise old Jedi Master, a tree of knowledge from which you eagerly pluck. You pay no consideration to the fact that what he embraces as truth is only his point of view, as all truth is. He will feed you one truth, but it is his own truth. Just as his view of the Force is wrong._

Rishi felt his interest peaking. _Wrong how?_

_If he only treads where the Force wills him to tread, he is but an empty shell._

Rishi nodded. _Jedi seem comfortable this way. And he seems happy this way._

_Except now the Force tells him nothing, and the future is hidden from him._

Rishi rubbed the beard starting to form at the edges of his jaw. _From me, as well._

_What do you think this means?_

Rishi considered his answer. _That...the future is being altered. Fates are changing._

The voice laughed inside his head._ But what is fate if it can be manipulated? What is future if there is none?_

Rishi shook his head. _I'm not old enough to answer those questions._

_You never will be._

Rishi supposed that was true. _So...there's no great truth? No real truth?_

_Oh, yes. There is._

Rishi felt brave. _Do you know it?_

_Yes._

_Tell me._

The voice laughed again, a cruel mocking sound. _That which is given has no value. Nothing is more valuable than that which is found. You seek the great mystery of the Force, the all-empowering truth behind it's nature and use. Many have doubted it's real will, many Jedi have lost faith in their beliefs because they never knew for sure if they were wielding it correctly. Does the future exist? Is there a true way of the Force? These questions can drive anyone mad._

Rishi scoffed. _But not you, of course._

_I never said I wasn't mad._

Rishi gathered the pieces. _You want me to find the truth on my own._

_No_, the voice teased, _I want you to simply look for it. But know this; even finding it doesn't mean you can ever know if it is truth._

Rishi longed to strangle the one talking to him._ That's nonsense. How am I to believe in something that will never be proven?_

_That is what they call faith._

Rishi looked back over at Raine. _He has faith in his path. Yet you say he is wrong._

_He had faith_, the voice clarified,_ now that his path confuses him, he's beginning to lose faith. And he is being...influenced...by others. Consider that maybe his path is not lost, but only hidden. His faith is being tested, and he has already lost. His ways were proven wrong long time ago, and only now he has to face it. But he doesn't face it, Rishi. He continues to lie to himself and that makes him vulnurable._

Rishi looked down at the floor, pondering issues he knew he was too young to delve into. He'd always believed he would find a path through his life, an ideal or dream that would feel right to him, but he still felt too young, too eager. He knew he would make mistakes and that he would learn from his mistakes, as he already had. But there was still much to learn, many mistakes to be made.

He knew intimately what happened when someone, like Master Skar, threw themselves at a purpose in life when they weren't ready for such a responsibility. He'd done the same in the underground of Coruscant, but since his departure from Coruscant he'd begun to believe his exploits in the underground were not of an ideal, or a purpose. It was only to busy himself with a somewhat managable problem that kept his mind off the greater problems. A time in which he could make many mistakes.

That time was over.

_I will...be observant._

The voice sent a wave of approval. _Good, I ask nothing more._

_Who are you really? Are you near?_

Again the voice laughed. _I am never further from you, than you are from me.

* * *

_

Kal looked away from Rishi, that tormented Kjoil sitting far away in deep thought at the other end of the room, and faced the Jedi Master. "More and more I'm starting to realize, what went wrong with the Old Republic."

Raine didn't meet the Jedi's eyes. "To the outside world, the Republic was a stabil unit, a functional government. But more than politics were at play beneath the surface. Exchanges of power, the Dark Side, and monstrosities unequaled."

Kal nodded. "What happens now?"

Raine sighed. "I am not sure. The Force yet eludes me, hiding my purpose from me. Something is not decided. I will return to where I am drawn, with the rest of the Sons of Destiny. It is where I am most useful."

Kal agreed. "I think so too. Nice to know someone is on our side."

Raine looked at Kal, doubtfully. "_Your _side?"

"Well, you're a _Jedi _Master. aren't you?"

Raine snorted. "Foolish boy. You're making an assumption that crumpled the old Jedi Order. The Jedi Order was an institution that had little to do with the natural way of the Force. The name 'Jedi' is not given to anyone by the Force, Jedi have created this term."

Kal was confused. "But...we're the same."

"No. The Force has never chosen the Jedi to nessicarily be a unit. The Jedi came together in past times, yes, but it doesn't mean that is what has to happen, or was intended to happen. The Jedi Order lost their view of the Force's way because they were restricted by other institutions within their own order."

Kal gave up and threw his hands into the air. "Fine, then don't help us."

Raine sounded annoyed. "I _am _a Jedi, but I do not need other Jedi around me to understand or follow the Force. Neither am I a rogue Jedi. I'm just an old man with a old-fashioned view, doing what I feel is right."

Kal pointed at Raine and then himself. "You and me, it's a personality problem. We don't mesh."

Raine shook his head, sighing. "But I have advice for you, young Jedi. At the bottom of this structure is the cloning facility. There is information there that will help you. It is also where I last saw Koll Riokon and his wife. Best if you stay together."

Kal crossed his arms over his chest, pretending he didn't care. "And you?"

"I will stay close to Master Eknath. He is diverting from the cause, and I fear he has his own ends at heart. By staying close to him he will find it difficult to hide anything from me."

Kal nodded swiftly. "Fine. Great. Now run along, old man."

Jedi Master Raine groaned. "Kids."

Rishi came walking over to them, his head slightly bowed, lost in his own thoughts.

Kal raised his voice. "Hey, Rishi! This guy says he won't help us!"

Rishi reached them and looked up at Master Raine. "It's his decision. He's been truthful," Kal started to object but Rishi kept talking, "I kept it down. I didn't give in to the anger."

Raine nodded. "Youth carries a passion of their own, put together with Kjoil power it can be an unconquerable enemy. Your heritage allows you great power, but even great power must be harvested with patience. You are still young, Rishi, your feelings are a danger in themselves. You must trust in yourself and not allow the Dark Side to push your feelings over the edge."

Kal looked out of his place. "So, what now?"

"We go to the cloning facility."

Raine nodded.

Rishi's comlink activated itself, a hologram appearing over his arm of the lead commando from his unit. He looked very troubled.

"Commander," there was an undercurrent of panic in his voice, "we've linked up with Saber Two's unit inside the main structure and we've found the hostage site."

A light of hope shone inside Rishi. "Good work, soldier. Are the hostages safe?"

"I wouldn't know, commander. They're not here."

The light faded as quickly as it had shown. "What?"

The sounds of a firefight and explosions slowly came through over the link. And something else; a loud monstrous roaring.

"But something _is_, commander."

Another roar echoed over the comlink and Raine's head came up fast. "Ragh!"

Kal stared at the old man. "You got a bad cough there, old man."

Raine dropped from his seating on the column, his body falling into a state of panic. "Ragh is my apprentice - "

"But he's killing my men," Rishi said defiantly.

Raine fell inwards, his thoughts straying. "No...I didn't tell him to go there. This is not my doing." Raine allowed the cane to drop from his hands and revealed his lightsaber instead. "We must hurry!"

* * *

Eknath stood alone at the reflective pool, his fingers playing across the surface of the water, creating ripples and staring mystified at his own reflection as it broke apart and then reformed. The Inner Council had joined only once inside the grand, but confusing, chamber. He had yet to discern what purpose it might have had apart from self-reflection. It was a meditative place, a place of comfort. Even during a war, sometimes the soul needed to touch something real, something as simple as water.

The doors opened into the room and Joon walked with a single purpose down the singular set of stairs to the flat platform that took up one fifth of the sphere's size. He stopped behind Eknath and rested there for a second before bowing down on one knee.

Eknath could feel the fear radiating off his apprentice, since it was the only thing emanating from the boy that didn't belong to himself. Joon was, in a sense, his own reflective pond. And so there was no real point in talking to the boy, belating him his failure. No real point in striking him in punishment.

Eknath watched the water drip from his fingers, considering the events he'd seen through Joon's eyes. How, when or why Boba Fett had arrived on Regana eluded him and it caused him great aggrevation. This was not a part of the plan and although Fett was only one man, he'd already proven strong and crafty enough to become a serious dent in Eknath's plans. But, as it was, Joon was not the one he would send to kill the bounty hunter. He needed something else, or someone else.

Joon sat in silence behind him as Eknath contemplated, much like a weapon rested on the shelf while its owner slept after a battle.

He opened his mind to the Force, to its darker side, looking for an answer. He believed Krych might be an obvious match for the bounty hunter and it pleased him on a secondary level to think of the two in combat; two faceless warriors battling each other. Yes, it would make for a grand spectacle, but he doubted his ability to command Krych. Krych seemed to have a grudge toward him and he didn't look forward to the young man's return from the battle outside.

Raine would never be a match. Fett's late father had been able to defeat Jedi Masters in his prime and despite the old man's ability to wield the Force, he was a sentimental old fool.

Raine's apprentice, Ragh, was also a negative. That dumb beast would never stand a chance against someone like Fett. He grinned slightly to himself. Unbeknowest to Raine, Ragh had met with an unfortunate accident while they had been busy twarting the advances of the Republic army. It was a low and unglorified act, but he hoped the consequences would produce a favorable reaction from the old Jedi Master. He would find out soon enough.

Eknath found himself longing for Riokon's council, but the General was not available. He believed the General might have thought up the perfect solution, but as things were Eknath was forced to think for himself and come up with a plan.

Junn. Where was that woman hiding? She was an unplayed card, he noted. One he might not be able to play, but surely one he could still use. A plan started to form, that would bring Fett out in the open and perhaps draw both Krych and Junn back into the fold.

He turned and faced the young boy at his feet. He drew upon the Force and imbedded his thoughts inside Joon. "You will go to the cloning facility and there you will stay. You will defend it with your life." Eknath delved even deeper. "When the Kjoil apprentice arrives, which he surely will, you will not harm him. Kill anyone that travels with him, but leave the apprentice to me."

* * *

Inside the hangar where the hostages had once been held, three lightsaber blades stabbed through the ceiling from above it and rapidly each carved a circle. Each disc dropped from the ceiling and down towards the floor, with three Jedi following their descent.

Rishi flung his disc from the air with the Force, smashing it against Ragh's giant head. The monster roared murderously and dropped the half-eaten Republic soldier from it's powerful hands, turning all it's attention to the three newcomers.

Ragh was the height of two men, and three abroad. His mangled face was decorated with piercings and tattoos, huge rings hung from his nostrils, and studs ran up the front of his nose. More beast than man, he supported on short stubby legs, banging arms the size of a full-grown human on the foor.

Blue, green and blue lightsabers created a wall of cracking audio, a loud constant tremor that acted as a weapon in itself. Ragh took offense to the sound and growled his annoyance, creating a wall of sound in himself.

Kal looked to Raine. "Nice apprentice you got there. Hard to find Jedi cloaks in his size, I bet."

Kal's attempt at levity was wasted on Rishi, his eyes saw only the dead Republic commandos littered across the floor around Ragh's feet. But he shunted the fear and set his mind on Ragh, trying not to think about how him and Kal being completely on their own now. "No hostages," he muttered, "the hostages are gone."

Kal nodded on the other side of Raine. "Maybe big guy here ate them already."

Raine lowered his green lightsaber to aim at the floor and raised his voice, but when he spoke it was in animal tones, a series of growls and grunts. Rishi could feel the amount of Force the old Jedi used to create this voice, and with his own attention brought to it, began to hear the translation in his head.

_Don't fret, precious. I'm here_, Raine said in a mellow comforting voice, _no one is going to hurt you._

Rishi looked back at the monster, starting to understand that the creature wasn't evil by nature. It was simply protecting a region it had made its own, a territory of its own. But seeing the monster extend its giant jaw, trails of flesh and blood dangling from the edges of its lips, he found the images didn't match. The creature seemed unaffected by Raine's words, thrashing about in canivorous rage.

Rishi felt a warning in his heart.

"Raine - "

"Don't worry, Rishi, it may take time but he _will _hear me."

"That's just the problem, Raine," Rishi nodded towards Ragh, "I don't think he can."

Raine looked and his heart sank with a sad sigh when he noticied it. On the sides of Ragh's enormous head, where two tiny pieces of lumpy ears should have been found, was nothing. The cavities that made hearing possible had been melted shut by great heat, a fresh but infected scar covering each cavity.

Without the ability to hear Raine's command, there was no speaking to him. Rishi contemplated speaking directly to the animal's mind, but the chaos erupting inside of Ragh's simple mind wouldn't be quelled by comforting voices from the inside, they would only be drowned out by the volcano of his own anger.

Raine's back slowly buckled and he dropped to one knee, sadness filling his voice. "No, no, no..."

Across from them Ragh still thundered with monstrous rage, slamming his giant fists down onto the floor, all sign of sentient being fading away.

"You poor fool..."

Ragh's eyes were the size of Rishi's fists and they fell upon Raine with no sign of recognition. The eyes only widened and he barked again, taking his first steps forward, snarling and flexing his giant bloodied fingers.

"Let them go, Ragh," Raine sounded defeated, "they don't care about you, like I do."

Rishi felt the floor shake as Ragh approached them. "What do you want us to do?"

"Go!" Raine cried. "Now!"

Rishi shook his head. "Let us help you!" He raised his lightsaber.

"No!" Raine snarled. "I raised him. Why should I let anyone else destroy him?"

Kal started to back away. "You're sure you can do this?"

Raine looked down into his lap, Ragh only ten feet away, opening his mouth to swallow the small Jedi Master.

"He's already dead to me."

Rishi looked over his shoulder and saw a lift behind them at the edge of the hangar. Kal saw it too and they both turned away from Ragh and ran for the lift. The floor trembled beneath them by Ragh's heavy steps and they both fell to the floor, sliding the last few feet to reach the inside of the lift.

Rishi kicked the controls with his foot and the lift doors closed, leaving one last glimpse of Ragh towering over the small Jedi Master. The roaring and heavy sound of Ragh moving around died out instantly.

Kal got up first and powered down his lightsaber. "Old fool. He's going to get himself killed!"

Rishi sat up on one leg, trying to keep a connection with Raine's mind. "He's got to follow his own path."

Kal spat. "Death is not a path. It's the end of one."

"Someone mutilated Ragh," Rishi pointed out, "there's something happening inside their ranks. Something bad, they're falling apart, which could work to our advantage. The hostages were gone too."

Kal shook his head. "More mysteries."

Rishi looked up at the controls to the elevator and he found it an impossible coincidence that his kick to the switches could have sent the lift to the lowest level where it was now headed.

* * *

Ragh's head came down fast, jaws wide open. The gaping mouth almost enfolded Raine's head, but there was a split second between getting the jaws around the Jedi and actually closing the mouth. In that split second Raine swept wide, slicing off the external sections of upper and lower jaw with his green blade.

Ragh screamed in tremendous pain through half a mouth, smoke and blood fossing from his face. Raine jumped to his feet, and watched Ragh back away, trying to hold his broken face together with huge palms.

The sight didn't wreck Raine's heart as much as the sound of Ragh screaming in pain. The irony of it all was that Ragh was actually screaming for him, pleading him to come and save him from the pain. Raine didn't fight the tears flowing down his cheeks as he took small steps to reach Ragh, and fulfill his apprentice's wishes.

"I'm coming, my son," he cried, tightening his grip on the lightsaber, "I'm coming, precious."

He felt so betrayed. Someone, and he had a good feeling who, had tortured Ragh, stolen his ears, forcing him to now kill the poor creature. For the first time he found himself thankful that the Force had taken away his ability to see the future. If he'd known he would stand here now and have to take his beloved apprentice's life, he never would have coped with it. But he knew now it was all he could do, it was the will of the Force and that was something he never questioned.

Ragh stumbled clumsily over the bodies of his victims, falling onto his back with a loud racket of armor and already dead bones breaking. Ragh thrashed on his back, screaming and crying and begging for death, a rage of thunder so great Raine could feel it in his head, testing the very stability of his mind, as if his skull itself would explode.

Raine leapt reluctantly onto Ragh's chest, asserting himself through effort onboard the wild monster's frantic tossing. He raised his sword, and prepared to plunge it, straight through the bloodied hands that covered the wrecked face of his old apprentice. Sorrow wrapped his heart before the stroke had even fallen, since Ragh was no more alive to him now than he would be a day from now.

The lightsaber's blade aimed down, the tip dancing just above Ragh's huge hands, it's green blade bright before his eyes. He closed them to stifle the tears, and to not catch a glimpse of Ragh's eyes as the blade fell.

Ragh's hand unfolded in an instant from his mangled face, what remained of his severed jaws spitting blood onto Raine's face and blade, the monstrous eyes fell wide and an angry roar blasted through burnt flesh and gushing blood.

Raine's reflexes betrayed him, the blood that washed over his face made him cover it with the sleeves of his cloak, and in that moment Ragh knocked the Jedi Master from his chest with a bloodsoaked hand.

Raine slammed against the far wall, his face dripping with blood not of his own, falling to the floor with a heavy thud, pain spreading like a spider's web across his chest. Nebulas of light and dark swirled before his eyes and when his head moved the concussion stabbed through his very brain with a blade of ice.

He forced his mind to focus, willed his pain to settle into steady ache, and commanded his body to react in spite of his frailty.

Ragh was still downed, wailing mournfully his own fate. His hidious bellow shook the walls of the hangar, his muscular limbs beating effortlessly all that he could touch, like a tortoise caught on its back and unable to stand.

Raine pushed himself up, steadying his breath and willed his lightsaber to his hand again. He would not make the same mistake again, Ragh was gone and in his flesh now remained a beast that needed to expedited quickly. The monster's pain swept over Raine in powerful surges but he found his way through the storm and ignited his green blade.

He heard a chime -

From within slowly opening lift doors, a lift at the opposite end of the one that Rishi and Kal has escaped through, a trail of smoke tore through the air and impacted with Ragh in a great explosion, rocking the hangar as though the giant itself had taken the room into its palm and slammed it down upon Regana's surface.

Ragh died in a blaze of fire, blood and smoke, pieces of black flesh flying in all directions like the pieces of armor from the dead Republic soldiers. Raine felt the shockwave shove him up against the wall but he stayed on his feet, covering his face from the flames with his free hand.

When the ringing in his ears stopped, he looked upon the blackened hole in the floor where Ragh had been seconds earlier, a cloud of smoke barely obscuring the burning ribcage that had once held Ragh's animal heart.

Raine looked towards the hangar lift off to his right and saw what could only be a battered Boba Fett standing there, holding a rifle with a grenade launcher attached beneath, smoke trailing from the barrel.

The feeling of threat drowned out his initial shock and he held up his lightsaber. Deep inside he knew this was his dying day. Battling Ragh had exhausted him and his mind was already a haze of stars orbiting a black hole. He resigned himself to his dreary fate and prayed only -

"Master Raine," Fett said in a stern voice and shouldered his weapon. "It's been too long."

* * *

Kal and Rishi arrived at the lowest level and the tunnel outside the lift doors ahead was carved straight out of the snow, with multiple defensive installations around the walls that had been destroyed by a lightsaber's blade. The permasnow had started to melt from a heat source even Rishi could feel on his skin.

A small pond of water covered the floor.

Kal stepped out of the lift. "Think he'll be alright?"

Rishi didn't answer right away, he spotted an entrance at the other end of the corridor and sensed motion behind it. Rhythmic motion. "I'm more worried about us."

As they started walking down the tunnel, Kal sniffed the air. "Oh, damn. Do you smell that? What the hell is this place!"

Rishi shrugged. "This is where Raine said the cloning facility would be. "

Kal stopped walking. "Well, that's just great!"

Rishi kept moving. "What's the matter?"

Kal ran up beside him. "Calm down? We're hundreds of levels beneath the station, following directions given to us by the enemy!"

Rishi couldn't help laughing slightly at Kal's flustered face. "Yeah, this is kind of bad. But at least there's no - "

A loud inhuman scream echoed down through the hallway, followed by another shortly after.

Rishi and Kal readied the weapons.

" - trouble," Rishi finished.

The stink that Kal had caught worsened as they pressed on down the tunnel, feeling a great deal of darkness with every step they made. Their lightsaber hummed in sync, adding another tension to their hearts. As they cleared the tunnel they came inside a cylindrical chamber with small lights on the walls, that flickered on they were inside. The chamber was wide, ten meters across Rishi guessed and maybe three times that high at the center.

A fusion generator delievered a steady hum at the other end of the room, the very same powersource that now ran the entire Hope's Haven. Crude rewiring on its controls and nearly left behind tools confirmed it.

Powering down their lightsabers, they ascended the small steps that led to a dais in the center of the room, seeing five man-sized glass tubes spread in a crescent pattern around the dais. They too had been rebuilt it seemed and only one was still operational. The stink seemed to come from a strange liquid covering the floor around the tanks, drained hypernation fluid from the discarded cloning cylinders. A human shape hovered inside the center holding tank, a clone almost at completed state.

And what was before only a tremor in the Force, now became a thick veil that blinded both of them from the light of the Force. They said nothing to each other, and Kal stepped slightly away as Rishi read through the log on the console. It confirmed his worst fears, and Rishi fought the urge to cry as he read through the pages.

He also noted that they'd already completed one cloning procedure, but it wasn't the body in the tank before him. This one was a back-up, in case the first go faced difficulties. The life inside the cloned body would never see true birth. It was destined to die and no one would care in the slightest way. A timer in the corner suggested that only a few more hours remained before the procedure was finished.

Rishi looked away from the scene and saw Kal leaning against the railing on the dais, clearly affected by what he'd seen. "You alright?"

Kal shook his head. "I thought I would be the one asking you that."

Rishi shrugged. "I'm alright, I guess."

Kal stared at the floor. "Although I know I can't avoid feeling pain, or sorrow, I'm sure I don't envy you anymore, Rishi. I've finally understood that. This way...I am humble. My victories are greater because I worked to acheive them. Sometimes you have to see the walls, in order to be free."

Rishi nodded. "Wise words." Rishi looked to the floor. "Now I know the truth. Raine wasn't lying."

Kal nodded. "Then let's destroy this place."

Rishi centered his attention on the fusion generator, slightly curious as to why its hum had begun to increase, to build and build in sound. He could hear the sound moving somehow, as if the sound itself was trying to reach out to him -

"Look out!" Kal shouted.

Rishi was pushed aside by Kal as two lightsaberhandles came falling down from the shadows above them, lighting up in different colours in midswirl. A red and green blade sought out their targets and stabbed through the air. Rishi dived away from his red blade, rolling to safety, while Kal plucked his green blade out of the air, firmly grasping it and claiming it for his own. Rishi called the red to his free hand and, with a grim expression, surveyed the rest of the chamber.

Kal locked eyes with Rishi. "Do you feel it? It's a trap."

Rishi swirled both blades in his hands. "Now, what would give you that impression?"

Kal sneered. "Wisecracks from a guy who walked right into said trap...how quaint."

Rishi shrugged. "Lets just hope this was their best trick. And that these were their only lightsabers." Rishi looked at Kal and then faced forward again. "Lets make this our last mistake as a team. Stop concentrating on each other and start focusing on our surroundings, alright?"

The sound of movement stole away Kal's reply and they looked up to see a little boy with a bandage across his eyes crouched down on top of the center cloning tank.

Kal smiled. "Hey! Hey there, kid!"

Rishi held out his hand to stop Kal from approaching the boy. "Stay back, Kal."

Kal hesitated and looked at Rishi strangely. "But it's...just a kid." As he said the words his senses reached out to the boy and found the very same disturbance that Rishi had already undercovered.

And as much as Rishi wanted to deny it, he couldn't. The Dark Side emanated from the little boy with a powerful sense of sorrow, a deep mourning. And although the boy couldn't be more than fifteen, a confidence and strength poured from him that spoke of a lifetime of training. The little young boy had a piece of cloth tied around his eyes, trails hanging on his shoulders, the rest of his garmants were pitch black like the soul of the boy. Rishi saw a young boy, but in the Force he felt a black hole of sorrow sucking everything in its void. Bruises on the boy's face and hands suggest he'd been in a recent fight.

Rishi took a step forward. "Come down!" he yelled at the boy, in the voice of an unpleased father.

The boy tilted his head as if he'd heard the words but didn't understand what they meant. Then he straightened again and started to talk. But when he spoke it was not the soft voice of any young boy.

It sounded like the Dark Side itself was communicating through him, a deep terrifying angry voice that snarled every syllable. "I am Tragedy. My Master bids you welcome to Hope's Haven."

Kal tensed up. "Where is your Master?"

"He comes...like wisdom from a scar. He comes for you...but he only needs one of you." The boy hefted another lightsaber from his belt and aimed the pommel at Rishi. "He seeks you." The boy sniggered, bellowing darkness that shook the glass of the tanks beneath him. "All he wants is you."

Rishi found the boy very disturbing. "Me?"

The boy continued to chuckle, oozing darkness. The boy, Tragedy as he called himself, leapt from the tank and landed on the dais before them. He ignited his single red lightsaber and walked towards the two of them unafraid.

Rishi looked for any sign of hesitation, the slightest hint of fear in the young man's stride, but there was none. He moved straight forward at a brisk pace, motivated to fight as if it was the only thing he could do.

Kal and Rishi both switched on their four blades, casting an apprenhensive glance at each other and then moved as one towards the young boy.

They fought him on opposite sides, both of them with twin blades, but his speed and mastery of the blade allowed none of their feints or ploys to be effective. His blade was a swirling shield of red energy, easily twatting the four blades aside. For such a young man Tragedy moved with the fluid elegance of a master swordsman, his style of fighting closer to the art of fencing than any other style. He used the tip of his blade as a weapon rather than the length of it, the way Rishi and Kal had been trained.

Kal found himself caught off guard more than once, Tragedy's red blade exploiting every small opening in his defences. The Jedi became more and more angry at his own lacking skill, turning to his aggression much too easily.

Rishi sensed this and tried to turn Tragedy's attention to himself, leaving himself open to an attack more than once. But the boy was smart for his age, and his lightsaber stayed orientated on Kal, merely blocking Rishi's attacks and leaving his weaknesses unexplored. Rishi continued his stragedy nonetheless, trying to stop Kal from losing his control and tamper with the Dark Side.

He took Kal's well-being, physically as well as spiritually, onto himself. Where he'd once seen a stuborn arrogant brat, he now saw a fellow comrade, a friend even. One he was not about to lose to a boy good with a blade. There was more than wielding lightsabers to using the Force.

Rishi also sensed an underlying threat in the Force that went beyond Tragedy's impressive use of a lightsaber. A ploy. A trick. Something hidden. Something their eyes couldn't see because of the heavy sadness the Dark Side had pulled over their minds. Something they hadn't detected because all their attention was focused on defeating the boy.

Rishi could feel it growing stronger, crawling up his back like a cold shiver. He jumped back, disengaged from the battle and took a look at his surroundings. He couldn't remember when it had happened because he'd been so focused but Tragedy had led them down several narrow corridors on the other side of the cloning facility, perhaps to make it easier for him to fight two at a time, or maybe he was actually leading somewhere much more dangerous. A place a trap awaited them. But how -

"Rishi!" Kal shouted.

Forced to return to the battle Rishi unloaded all his energy into Tragedy's blade, trying to overwhelm him and weaken him, trying to make him focus on Rishi yet again, leaving Kal time to recuperate. Tragedy seemed to be aware of this and turned to face Rishi instead, cutting and stabbing his weapon with all the fury his young heart contained, while Kal dropped back, panting for air, staring at the young boy with great anger.

_Don't let him_, Rishi urged, _it's what he wants. He wants us to lose it. He's got something waiting._

Rishi couldn't tell if the words got through to Kal, the Jedi seemed unchanged.

_Hear me, Kal. Don't give into it._

At that moment the boy revealed a secret manuver. He pushed Rishi further and further back, finally stabbing straight through the air between them, forcing Rishi to jump back several feet using the Force. But before Rishi had even touched back down, the boy had turned back to Kal, who was still weakened.

Rishi saw it too late, and Kal never saw it coming.

"No!" Rishi managed to scream as he landed, instantly running forward to reach Tragedy before the boy reached Kal. He felt like he was running through water, miles seemed to separate him from the other two and he already knew he was too late.

Kal rose as fast as he could, his lightsaber rising to defend himself. Tragedy came in a fast sprint, dropping to his knees and gliding the last few feet, stabbing the lightsaber beneath Kal's blade and punctuated his left thigh. The red blade didn't retract but moved sideways to the right, in a wide arc just in time to block Rishi's falling stroke, pressing the battle instantly.

Kal dropped onto his back, screaming in pain, unable to fight.

Rishi had to fight the boy alone now and Tragedy threw himself at Rishi with all he still had, which was impressive. Within a series of feints and blocks, the boy managed to relieve Rishi of the red blade by slicing through the only part of it that wasn't covered in Rishi's fingers. The fingers were spared miracuously and Rishi counted his blessings that they'd survived. Tragedy still pounded on the single blue blade with all of the Dark Side fueling his attacks, delievering a strength that no young boy should possess.

A rumble went through the floor beneath them and Rishi felt the floor give way. Tragedy had lured him onto a lift of some sort that descended slowly through a blackened tunnel. Their fighting slowly died and each retreated to their separate side, while the lift fell. Rishi kept his side and lightsaber to Tragedy, steadying his breathing once again, staring at that eyeless boy.

Tragedy's face was aimed at the floor, lost in his own thoughts, gathering his energy on currents flowing from Darkness. The floor they'd left fell out of sight above Rishi's head and the thought occured to him that maybe this was the trap. Maybe the lift would fall forever, maybe there was no bottom or something even worse.

Rishi shunned the thoughts away and lifted his lightsaber with both hands before his face, staring into its snapping hue. Being able to see nothing but light centered his thoughts, just as he was sure Tragedy's blindness helped him grow stronger in the Dark Side.

The lift finally reached its destination with only a narrow corridor for an exit, placed right behind Rishi. Realizing a trap existed was the first step in evading it, he'd once heard. But escaping it was not Rishi's plan. He took steps to his left, circling the boy, forcing the youth around on the lift so the boy stood with his back to the exit.

Knowing he was able to outmatch the boy by merely defending himself he began to press the battle forward, pushing the boy down the corridor, into whatever trap that waited beyond it.

He could sense the boy's starting to worry about the outcome of the battle for the first time, breaking his barrikades. Rishi pounced on that sensation, letting his determined grin be clearly seen by the young boy, as they fought on down the corridor, their swords occasionally scorching the close walls.

The boy was the first to back-step into an open area, an unfinished entry for another emergency evacuation tunnel underneath the snow. The space was large enough to land the _Koniduz _inside, a deep lake of melted ice filling most of the floor. Small islands broke the water's surface, tools and equipment left behind here and there.

Thick cables crossed the ceiling of the high chamber, same dangling down like vines in a jungle. The ceiling itself was supported by a repulsor in the center, keeping the chamber from caving in until proper construction could be conducted. There was still technical machinery at the other end of the space to hollow out another tunnel, but the hollowing out portion had barely begun.

There was no other way out.

The boy's boots sank down into the water up to his knees, while it barely reached above Rishi's boots. They continued to fight ferociously, their lightsabers tore up the placid water, sending waves out to their sides. Smoke followed the touch of the heated blade upon the water, but they moved so quickly that neither noticed. The outside world was a frame, a crystal ball that held them locked inside. Nothing else existed, nothing but them and the Force that bound them together.

The Force that ripped them apart.

He could feel the boy losing his confidence, and something else. A connection between the boy and something far away. _Someone _far away. The boy's sorrow was turning into fear, and the boy didn't fear death. He feared his Master. Rishi went for a conscious clash of their swords, letting himself get close enough to talk to the boy.

"Kid, listen to me!" Rishi urged. "You don't have to do this! Stop listening to him!"

The boy shook his head, his face red from exhaustion. "He...he won't stop!" It was a boy's voice, a frightened boy. "I can't get him out of my head! He's always there!" The boy wailed, crying his terrified heart out. "He's hurting me!"

Their blades threw sparks at Rishi's face. "Stop it! Put down your weapon and I can help you, I swear! We can stop him together!"

Then suddenly the boy was lost again and that dark grin flashed across his face again, and when he spoke the boy was gone. "Stop me?" he asked in a dark etheral voice. "Silly little Kjoil. Your Master couldn't destroy me, even at his weakest."

Rishi understood it wasn't the boy talking, but his Master. The one controlling and manipulating. "Afraid to face me yourself? Sending little boys to kill me? Pathetic!" Rishi pressed his advantage, putting all his strength into their clashed sabers, pushing the boy's own blade back against him. "But...fear _is_ the nature of the Dark Side."

Tragedy screamed with insane anger and the power pushed Rishi's blade back towards his own face. Rishi summoned the Force into his body and created a vacuum between them. Rishi moved one hand away from his saber and grabbed onto Tragedy's wrist. Shutting down his own saber, he pulled Tragedy's hand and lighstaber aside and the vacuum pulled them together.

Rishi slammed his forehead into the boy's face and thought he heard bones break. The boy retorted instantly with a powerful shove and the two of them flew away from each, landing deep in the water at opposite ends of the room, but remained facing one another.

The cables above their heads swayed on the outburst of Force they'd employed, dangling back and forth as if wind was passing through the chamber. Tragedy held his rasping blade out and away from himself, his small body trembling with each breath. Rishi stood firm, willing the boy to attack once again. The only exit was behind him and there was no way the young man was getting out again.

"Strange place for a burial," Rishi mocked the one behind the boy's actions, and played with the tip of his saber on the surface of the water. The blade sizzled, creating small clouds of smoke as the water instantly boiled. "Nowhere to put flowers."

The boy's soaked bandana clung to the side of his face, his face turning blue from the cold water he stood in, and yet the dark grin stayed on his face. The Master spoke again, his omnious voice echoing off the frozen walls. "Kill this shell if it pleases you, young Rishi. That's what it's there for."

Rishi's every sense devoted itself to the voice, but could reveal nothing. The voice seemed familiar somehow, gruff and hard, the voice of a man tired of the world. "Who are you?" Rishi demanded.

The boy stirred. "We'll meet soon enough."

Rishi was starting to feel fed up with half answers. "Are you Koll Riokon?"

Tragedy's body was shivering from cold and exhaustion but the voice was solid as rock, and deep as hell itself. "No. I am the reason why you are here. The man you called Master...you'll find his body at the highest peak of this station. Look there for your answers, and your future."

Rishi stepped forward, letting his defenses fall. "The highest peak?"

"Yes. Now, kill the boy and be on your way. There's much to be done." The voice trailed off. The boy was suddenly in somewhat control of his body again, straightened up and raised his lightsaber.

Rishi raised his lightsaber up over his head, preparing himself for more fighting. But as he did so, his eyes subconciously looked at the ceiling above his head, at the heavy cables still swaying, thick power cables that hummed slightly with electricity.

Tragedy jumped into motion, sprinting across the water, his lightsaber spinning in his small hand -

Before even planning it, Rishi tossed his lightsaber at the biggest cable he could find, cutting through it easily. The length of the cable, unsupported, dropped like a falling snake towards the water, sputtering with electricity. Tragedy reacted impressively, and leapt straight up from the water before the cable could touch it.

But the cable never touched the water, instead it slowed to a hovering position just above the water's surface, while his airborne lightsaber made its way back towards Rishi. But it only made it half the way, obstructed as it drove through Tragedy's back while he was still in the air, the blue blade exiting dead center in his chest. Tragedy fell from the air, splashing into the water below like a giant stone.

Rishi moved the cable away from the water with the Force and set it down where it could do no damage, and slowly waded towards Tragedy's floating body. The body moved away from him due to the waves his own movements stirred in the water. Tragedy lingered face down in the water, his body suddenly looking so small and so fragile.

Rishi felt a stab of remorse and stopped moving towards the body, he never even really knew what he wanted with it. There were no answers to be found on his corpse. He was saddened that he couldn't have avoided the kill, and sad by the nature of the boy's fate. He'd lived a life of loyal servitude, a pawn only, never to know the riches of a real life.

As Rishi called his lightsaber back to his hand from beneath the water, he allowed himself to feel sad for the boy, because he knew no one else did. His own Master had left him to die.

Rishi turned away from the body, thinking of the wounded Kal back in the cloning facility. He'd been reckless to leave him alone back there, wounded and defenseless. He sensed nothing had happened to Kal, but he could feel darkness closing in around them -

_Splash._

Rishi's body froze.

"H-help me," a young boyish voice cried from behind him. "It's...dark in here."

Rishi turned back around to see Tragedy floating on his back, shaking from pain and the cold water. The bandaged face looked here and there as though the boy didn't know he was blind and was trying to find light in the darkness.

Rishi's heart sank beneath the water.

"Is there anyone there? Please help me. It hurts," the boy whimpered, "I can't see anything. My eyes hurt."

Rishi's lips opened to talk, but he didn't know what to say. What could he say to the young boy? Could he help him understand any of it?

He walked over slowly and dropped down to his knees in the water, holding his hands out beneath the boy and holding him close. The boy's shaking intensified, unable to see who it was. "I'm here, kid," he said, using the Force to calm the boy, "everything's alright."

The boy's trembling lips were blue. "I can't see."

"Your eyes were taken from you," Rishi said as carefully as he knew how, "you've been under the influence of the Dark Side."

Tragedy's face moved towards him, locking on to his voice. "The _Dark Side_?"

Rishi cursed internally. The boy had been manipulated for so long he probably hadn't even known about the Force before. There was no way of comforting a fifteen year old boy who'd had his life stolen from him, only now to come back horribly scarred and - Rishi felt a stab of guilt - dying.

"Listen to me, kid; you're wounded. You're dying."

The boy's cheeks quivered, his lips starting to curl. "Die? Why?"

There were no words Rishi could find to explain why things were as they were. He contemplated using a sleep technique on the boy, knocking him out so at least death wouldn't come suddenly. And, he admitted to himself, to stop the boy from asking any more heart-wrenching questions. "It's alright," he whispered, feeling the muscles in his jaw start to tighten, "go to sleep." He placed his hand on the boy's cold forehead, letting the Force move through his fingertips. "Go to sleep."

The boy trembled one last time, and then his body softened in Rishi's hands. "It's...getting darker," he said with his last exhale.

The boy finally died in Rishi's hands and he urged the body away from himself, letting it float away on the water. Rishi stood slowly, feeling a sickening sensation in his gut. He'd never taken a life this way before, never a mercy-kill. He watched the body float away, getting angry, feeling infuriated that he had to do what he did for the boy. That someone could take a person so young and completely wipe away the identity. To take a life and twist it to his own will.

_May the Force be with... _

Rishi couldn't even think it without feeling disgusted. The same Force that had given him life, had bereft the boy of his. It made him question many things about the Force again, questions that would perhaps never be answered. If the Force had a will, why did it let boys like this one be corrupted? What fate or destiny required such evil? What grand scheme of things would be benefacted by the loss of someone so young, so new to life.

He flicked on his comlink. "Kal?"

Kal's reply was hoarse. "Yeah, I'm still alive. Where are you?"

He started walking for the exit. "Not far away. Took care of the boy."

"Dead?"

Rishi nodded. "Yeah, there was no other way."

Kal chuckled slightly. "I believe that. Never seen anything like him before."

Rishi didn't want to talk anymore about the boy. "Listen, the boy was being controlled by someone. I..sort of spoke with him."

He sounded puzzled. "Spoke with him?"

"He was using the boy's body, and he talked to me. He told me to go to the highest point of the station."

Kal sounded confused. "He _told _you? And you're _going_?"

Rishi bit back his irritation, barely. "Does that mean you're not coming with me?"

Kal snorted. "That's for sure. I'm not going up there, Rishi. Its obviously another trap."

"Kal, this _whole _thing is a trap. We're exposed. They're playing with us."

Kal was a master of sarcasm, if not the Force. "Yeah, like psychopaths play with their victims before they kill them."

He rolled his eyes. "We're going. It's all we got. Can you walk?"

He could almost envision Kal's smirk. "My leg is halfway _severed_, Rishi."

Rishi frowned. "Alright. I'm headed your way, try not to - "

The connection filled with static and then blasterfire. He could hear heavy rifle fire on the other end. Rishi stopped dead in the water.

He could make out Kal's panicked voice. "...Ris...on't...come...his...way...RUN!"

* * *

Inside the reflection chamber Eknath's eyes opened like curtains pulled slowly, his lips thinning out until a very unnatural smile spread across his face. His eyes moved to look upon Master Raine, his head following seconds later.

"It would seem we are both without apprentices now," he said without any emotion.

Raine looked crestfallen. "Joon?"

"Yes," he was still weaing his smile, "the Kjoil has ended his apprenticeship."

Raine quickly changed from sad to disgusted. "And you feel nothing, of course."

Eknath sniggered slightly, rubbing his chin with thin fingers. "Oh, I feel much, Master Raine. In killing my apprentice, the young Kjoil has started to fall beneath my control. It won't be long before he will come to face me. He's already walking the path I've laid before him." Eknath looked into the future, seeing many possibilities. "You've met him. What do you think?"

Raine hugged his cane to his chest. "He's young at heart. There are many things he has not yet learned, not just about the Force, but about himself."

Eknath seemed delighted. "Good. An unsettled mind is easily influenced."

"What will happen when he finds his Master?"

Eknath shrugged. "That remains to be seen. He is unpredictable, but the bait I've planted will at least give him resolve for our encounter." The telepath stretched out with his feelings. "The other Jedi...we'll need to do something about him."

Raine was afraid to ask. "What do you suggest?"

Eknath looked over at Raine, his red eyes beaming with excitement. "I suggest we once again call upon the _loyalty _of young Krych."

More and more Raine knew he was just a pawn in Eknath's great game, merely a playing piece, just an asset. Just like Joon had been. And it struck him for the first time that maybe he was already under Eknath's control, and that many of his actions were perhaps influenced directly by the telepath. It scared him more than a world without future, more than the pull of the Dark Side.

"You mean...to kill him?" Raine asked, wishing he hadn't.

Eknath stood from his seating on the edge of the reflective pond and clasped his hands behind his back. "Betrayed by the Republic, faced with the Dark Side, mourning his Master, alone and unsupported; this young Kjoil will break just as his Master did. And then together, Master Raine, we will break him some more." Eknath took in a deep breath, a dark smile forming on his lips again. "But first there's another matter we must resolve. The commanders of the Republic's fleet have been brought to us and we would be poor hosts not to welcome them personally."

* * *

Kal rolled sideways, despite the splitting pain in his leg, to avoid the many blaster bolts dotting the floor around him. Four Sons of Destiny soldiers were shooting at him from inside the tunnel that led back to the lift. He tried to get his lightsaber out for defense but the barrage of bolts kept him moving. To get the lightsaber out he would have to lie still and his body would have been pierced by angry red bolts.

"_DIE!_"

Kal heard what sounded like an armored hand smacking the back of a helmet.

"Would you give it a rest!"

The firing stopped and Kal rolled onto his back, staring past his feet at the four enemy soldiers standing in the doorway.

The biggest of them had a rifle in his hands that was still venting smoke. "Sorry, commander." He reached up and unfastened his helmet, throwing it away in irritation. "I can't see a thing in that helmet!"

The others relieved themselves of their helmets, eyeing the odd one with rolling eyes and frustrated annoyance.

The lead soldier turned around to face Kal. "Sorry about that. He gets a little carried away sometimes."

Kal stared at them in disbelief.

The lead soldier looked embarrased. "Oh, sorry, sir. We're the Dragon's Tooth, special forces unit for the New Republic."

Kal's heart beamed with light. He couldn't stop the smile from growing on his face even if he wanted to. But before the smile could settle in proper, Kal thought of Rishi. He cursed himself and reached for his comlink, only to see it lying on the floor next to him, destroyed by a stray blaster bolt.

* * *

With one swipe of his lightsaber Rishi demolished the repulsor at the center of the underground chamber, the only thing had kept the unfinished ceiling from caving in. With it offline the ceiling fell down around him and Rishi used the Force to leap straight up through the avalanche of snow, ice and metal. Rishi fought against a storm made out of snow as heavy as steel, and eventually metallic floors and ceilings.

With the Force as his ally, he carved through several ceilings as he progressed. Once he reached the first level of the main building he realized since he was heading for the roof, he might as well continue that method. He leapt through another ten floors, always moving, his lightsaber proceeding him in an invisible fist, carving a gap for him to leap through as he jumped from level to level.

He lost sense of time and space doing this, since the Force demanded all of his attention to maintain both the awareness on the saber as well as his ability leap those great heights. He'd long since lost track of Kal's situation but his mind was occupied with the idea of reaching the roof of the structure, to find the _body _of his Master.

The prospect of what he would find brought him no elation, but he could feel resolution coming. Seeing his Master's body would at least cement the knowledge that he was infact dead. He didn't doubt it, but finding physical evidence would destroy any flimsy hope his subconscious might hold. It couldn't happen fast enough.

Rishi began to feel the air getting colder around him, feel a tug of wind that pulled at him as he cleared the highest level and came down with his feet on each side of the hole his lightsaber had carved for him. His lightsaber waited for him in the air and Rishi plucked it and secured it to his belt.

The weather outside was no better than before; night had fallen and the winds were colder and stronger. Dark clouds had created a veil, that left the battlefield he knew was out there out of sight. He was thankful for that small luck, having no desire to see what remained of the Republic's forces.

His eyes began searching by their own will, the roof was immense but small light fixtures along the rim showed him where the edge was. There was nothing there, nothing but a thick layer of snow, snow that continued to whip past him on the wind. There was also a light fixture at the top of the communications-mast in the center of the roof, a mast that boosted in communications with the outer buildings of the station as well as the orbital space stations -

There.

Rishi's eyes saw it but all of his soul wanted to look away. His feet started to walk towards the base of the mast and he couldn't stop them. Even the wind seemed to pull him closer to the base, begging him to come closer to see it.

The corpse danling from the middle of the mast. Master Skar's naked corpse was half-eaten, the legs ending just below his kneecaps. The skin was gray and dead, and in several sections pieces of flesh was missing, eaten away by teeth as well as the ripping winds.

Much of his stomach was gone, his entrails hanging from the wound, frozen by the cold. His right tattooed arm was tied to a girder crossing the lateral mast, while the other was missing from above the elbow. His face was still recognizable, despite the many cuts and gashes crisscrossing his skull.

The eyes were gone, empty black sockets staring down at Rishi, filling him with terror. His hair had frozen solid down the sides of his head. Someone had nailed his body to the mast with claws used for mountain-climbing, and they had nailed through his shoulders as well as his hips.

Rishi fell into a kneeling position at the base of the mast and looked down at the blood on the snow surrounding the mast. Tears welled at the corners of his eyes and all of his body started to tremble. He cried freely, knowing he would achieve nothing by suppressing it. Anger crept up inside his chest and he felt it wrap around his heart.

His heart started to race against his chest, and though he was sure it was the sound of the wind moving through the buildings, he couldn't block out the sound of a million voices crying in sorrow at the back of his head.


	4. Adapting To The Enviroment

Kal kept his hand pressed against the wound in his thigh, tendrils of the Force moving through his palm. The Force couldn't put the wound back together in the amount of time he needed but it could speed up the process significantly and also remove any infections he might have been unlucky enough to receive. He couldn't believe his own failure, defeated by a young boy. It angered him, made him feel smaller and he wished he could have been there with Rishi to watch the demented boy die.

How could he have been so careless? How could he have let his guard down? He'd been stupid, and he had no one to blame but himself. His own fingers clutched the fabric around his wound in suppressed anger, and it only felt worse that Rishi was now out there alone and he couldn't contact him. The comlink frequency they'd used couldn't be patched into by the systems in the helmets the soldiers wore.

But they were a level of comfort however. Since he was out of action, he supposed a group of four Republic commandos would even things out. He just had to find some way of getting them linked with Rishi.

The Dragon's Tooth had moved to a small out of the way storage they'd been using as a home ever since they'd freed themselves from their prison. They'd gathered a lot of gear and intelligence, and the site was sufficiently mined and secure, secure enough that the soldiers had removed their stolen armor and were feeding themselves with what they called the best kind of military rations they'd ever had.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys."

"Most people aren't," Salvor said with a smug smile, "but then they rarely see us before its too late. We make our presence felt."

Kal pushed himself into a sitting position. "You came in from the _Masamune_?"

Salvor shook his head. "Don't know that ship, sir. Came in on the _Passive_. We were the first insertion attempt. I imagine the Republic must think we're dead."

Kal felt safe enough to jest. "You know; if you guys had bothered to call home, I wouldn't be in this mess."

Salvor didn't look amused. "We've stayed low, intending to contact the fleet once it arrived. But for some reason communications out of the station is impossible. We've been gathering intelligence for the past few weeks."

Kal suddenly realized the goldmine standing before him. "So you know what happened here? All of it?"

Salvor nodded. "I believe so, sir."

Kal listened to their experiences and discoveries since their jailbreak, slowly gathering a more cohesive image of their opposition. The stories they'd heard from Jedi Master Raine matched with the intel the soldiers had. There had never been a Kayupa leading the army, it had been a ruse, a mistake caused by the fact that Koll Riokon had once been nicknamed Kayupa by his former Master. He was also glad to realize that there was no second Jentarana involved, having suspected the man they believed to be Kayupa to have built more of the war-machines.

The soldiers explained that the terrorists had constructed a live clone from the secret cloning facility underneath the repair yard, but were dissapointed to admit they had no idea where the clone was now, or where Koll Riokon and his wife had gone into hiding.

They also told him about Derrick Melar and the traitor Junn, about the mercenary Jovis and his ragtag team of murderers, about their rebellion, about the supply of ysalamiri and the death of the same.

About the dark man they'd learned was called Sonnet who had captured them underground, who'd since then never been seen. About the one calling himself Loyalty fighting the Kjoil clone outside in the snow.

About creatures called vhroniks, a threat that caused Kal's blood to pump. He'd never heard of such a creature before, and the idea of animals hunting him using the very same Force as himself made his skin crawl. The commandos admitted they'd only seen some but hadn't fought any of them.

The youngest of the soldiers, a quiet reserved man named Kast, listened to his comrades share their stories and intel about the station with a hard-to-read expression on his face. He looked saddened but also angry. Kal found it hard to focus on their debriefing with the young man's intense burden weighing upon his own shoulders.

While the other soldiers continued to share their intel, Kal turned his focus away from his own wound and directed it towards the young Kast instead -

"Don't," Kast said out of the blue, silencing all of them. His eyes moved away from the floor and glared directly at Kal. "I know what it feels like by now. Don't try to read me."

Kal was shocked by Kast's words and instantly pulled back his probe. "Something's bothering you."

Salvor seemed to agree. "Yeah. You've been silent ever since we broke free, Kast."

"Share," Stix, the big dumb brute, demanded.

Kast stayed composed. "It doesn't matter."

Kal leaned forward, suppressing a pained groan. "Obviously it does."

Kast looked to the floor again. "The Jedi who led us here, who kept us alive...I accept that he lied to us and that he was lied to, and that he was a clone of some big bad guy long ago. And as you said, that his death was somehow vital to whatever cosmic balance you Jedi tender."

Kal nodded. "Alright."

Kast inhaled. "But he told us things he didn't have to. He shared a lot with me. I was sad to know he died. He helped me question the way I lived, the way I thought. And I think we're all ignoring a very important fact he showed us; this battle, _our _battle, it isn't for the Republic."

Salvor nodded grimly. "That's right." He looked over at Kal. "We've come to believe that there are dirty elements within the Republic. Our mission here was comprimised and easily discarded. We never stood a real chance against the forces the Republic knew was here. We were set up and meant to fail."

Stix collected his fingers across his chest armor. "Yeah, you can keep your objectives if you want, but we may be going another path."

Kast's saddened look was the best armor-piercing weapon they had. "We've decided to go our own way. After this, we won't be returning to the Republic."

Kal could tell by their eyes and their determined voices that they'd thought about it thoroughly, and he couldn't really gainsay them. He believed also that the Republic had many corrupt branches. A part of him wanted to object but he couldn't find a countermeasure.

"I...won't try and stop you, and I agree with you to some to degree. But the Republic needs you now. We're here, the Sons of Destiny are going to kill billions of people if we don't do something. I understand that you feel betrayed, but inflicting revenge by being idle is not honorable in any way." He hoped to appeal to their soldier spirits, soldiers were honorable creatures at heart. "I can't tell you which side is the greater evil, the Republic or the Sons of Destiny, but - "

"Interesting you should bring that up," Salvor said carefully. "We've been arguing back and forth about that too."

"How?"

Kast sat up straight. "Well...being as we are, at a crossroad in our lives, we've sort of wiped the slate clean as far as ideals and faith goes. We used to believe the Republic was a power that was working for a sense of good in this world. Now we know it's not. The Republic should have bombed this place long ago, just like you said, but they haven't. They want their cloning facility, just like the Old Republic kept Kamino as a card up their sleeves. With this technology they could at any time build another clone army, perhaps to one day fight off potential threats. Or even this new Jedi Order, just as it happened back then."

Salvor started taking his rifle apart, spying combat in his future. "We've eavesdropped on many of the conversations between the highest ranking in the Sons of Destiny. Some of their ideas are out there, and they're not afraid to admit that it might not work. But they have an ideal, an honorable ideal, one not too far removed from our hearts..."

Kal felt his muscles tighten. "You're not thinking of joining them?"

Kast snorted. "W'e're not even sure about if we should take a side or just walk away and let things sort themselves out. Big things are happening here. Stay or leave; we leave our impact on history no matter what we do, right or wrong."

Kal realized that although the commandos were young, some of them barely past their twentith birthday, they'd found a wisdom through their careers as soldiers. They wouldn't be swayed by his words and assurances about right or wrong, black or white. He couldn't even hope to influence them because it would be tempting the Dark Side. These soldiers weren't evil, and to force them into seeing his perspective was wrong.

He knew from a life as a Jedi that the Sons of Destiny had to be stopped. He believed the Republic could be saved, but how he didn't know. It could take decades or it could take a war against someone as the Sons of Destiny. Their ideology might seem good-hearted, but he wasn't about to let them destroy Coruscant. The willingness to sacrifice innocent lives because of faith, separated good and evil in his book.

Kal bit down on his pain and tried to straighten up. "I'm not going to lose Coruscant. I don't know how they're planning to destroy Coruscant but right now they've got three of our Star Destroyers in their control, and I don't think the armies we've seen here is all they've got waiting. I'm going to stop them."

Stix shrugged indifferently. "Do whatever, man. I'm retired."

The others said nothing.

"The man who helped you survive, Jarod, the one whose council helped you reach this decision; he gave his life so the rest of us would fight on, he gave us strength so we could defeat this enemy. He believed so firmly that they had to be stopped that he gave his own life," he looked at each soldier, "by doing nothing you might as well have shot him yourself. These people are about to kill everything you've ever known, all you've ever loved. The Republic may be heading for a fall, but if you do nothing now you're the ones giving it the push."

Kast stood up from his crate and started getting into his fibersuit.

Stix was still chewing on a protein bar. "Where do you think you're going?"

Kast zipped up his suit. "I'm not entirely convinced, but...look, I've got a life ahead of me that doesn't include fighting. Years from now I don't want to look at this moment and know my last time as a soldier was spent sitting around and doing nothing. He's right. We owe Jarod." Kast pulled the armor over his shoulders and fastened it. "I've got a few rounds left in me. Stay here if you want."

Stix held up his hands. "Now, hold on just a - "

"Guess we've been holding long enough," Salvor said and finished reasembling his rifle. "I'm not going to break your wrist on this, Stix, but we could use you."

Stix shook his head and activated the holographic projector in his gauntlet. "I wasn't going to say anything when we were on hiatus, but I've got an idea to take this place down." The projector created a detailed representation of the repair yard as it was. "Its really simple; all of the structures are linked by passageways, making their stability reliant upon each other. If we blow out the base of one building, like the first one that Jarod took down, it will start to tilt, the passageways will lean into the adjacent buildings, pushing them. If we plan this right we can take out more than half of the buildings here by just blowing one or two."

Everyone looked at each other surprised.

Salvor padded Stix on the shoulder. "I'm impressed. Never knew you had it in you."

Kast was more skeptical. "Blow up as much as you want, but that main building is built several levels down into the surface. It won't budge, and that's the place we need taken down." He pointed beneath the structure. "And the cloning facility under it."

Kal nodded, agreeing that destroying the cloning facility was a nessicity, and it might force those wanting to preserve it out into the light.

Stix shook off their comment. "Guys, its like blowing up a table. You take out one of the legs and the whole thing collapses."

Salvor rolled his eyes. "Why do you always have to compare it to blowing up tables? Do you blow up a lot of tables in your sparetime?"

Call's brows lifted. "You get sparetime!"

"Stay out of my personal life."

Salvor shook his head. "It won't work."

Stix held out his hand. "I _promise _you it will work."

Their commander didn't budge. "Sorry, but I'm not going to risk our lives on this."

Stix's hand lowered and instead he crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright...how about we _bet _it will work?"

Kast finished suiting up and looked very interested. "How much you got?"

Salvor held up his hands. "Guys..."

Kast shrugged. "Win-win, Commander. If he's right, I survive. If he's wrong, I don't have to pay him."

"Two months pay," Stix wagered.

Kast whistled. "That's going to be a lot of dry night, Stix."

"Yeah, but if we don't do this," he pointed at the hologram, "I won't live to see a lot of nights."

Salvor gave up. "Status on ordnance?"

Stix grinned and started rumaging through the gear they'd assembled. "I was planning on stealing this away for my retirement, but I suppose they'd be better suited for this op." He came away, cradling enough ordnance in his arms to blow Regana itself in half. "If we split it up between us I can give you details on how to prime the charges."

Salvor looked uncertain. "Split it up?"

Kast loaded his rifle. "We'll make better time if we split up. We've been able to hide as a foursome so far. On our own we shouldn't have any trouble. Besides, the main structure is the only one really occupied by troops anymore. The outer structures should be safe enough."

"Split four ways?" Salvor asked.

Kast nodded.

"I'll take north structure," Call said.

"West," Stix confirmed.

"You take east, Commander," Kast said to Salvor and then nodded towards the Jedi, "I'll take him with me south, it's the shortest distance and he's on the limp."

Salvor smirked. "Oh, sure. That's why."

Stix distributed the charges and instructed them how to place and set them. Each commando was trained in using their own ordanance beyond grenades, but Stix had studied this enemy ordnance to the smallest detail and knew them best. "Easy thing; put it, prime it, run like hell. Each device runs on a remote frequency, but Tracker can patch into them easily."

Kal raised an eyebrow. "Tracker?"

Kast answered. "An RATM."

Kal raised another eyebrow. "Which is?"

Salvor elaborated. "Remote Assistance Tracking Module."

Kal looked back and forth between them.

"Tiny droid," Stix said slowly, mocking Kal's confusion, "it flys around, it helps us."

Kal managed to laugh along with the others, but the thought of the missing hostages stole his jovial mood. "What about the hostages? Does anyone know where they are? They weren't in the central unit."

Even if he hadn't been a Jedi Kal was sure he would still have felt how the mood changed inside the room. The soldiers all seemed uneager to be the one to answer his question, but in the end Call accepted the task. "There are no hostages...not anymore."

Kal didn't understand. "What do you mean? I can sense them. I'd know if they were dead."

Salvor took a deep breath. "When they first took hostages, a man called Eknath used mind tricks to keep them quiet, to keep them from becoming a problem. When the fleet arrived...they took it a bit further."

Stix's angry frown brought ice to Kal's ice veins. "Can't wait to blow that Eknath guy apart. He's one sick bantha."

Kast elaborated. "He made the hostages compliant..."

Kast didn't finish the sentence, allowing for Kal to collect the pieces himself. And when he did, he could feel the Dark Side present all around him. "He turned them into soldiers."

Salvor nodded grimly. "We tried keeping track of them, but...there were too many. We don't know which ones are hostages anymore. We prefer not to think about it. None of us were able to undo what he did." Salvor met Kal's eyes. "Chances are that even you have killed some of them."

Kal shook his head. "But that Jedi, Raine, he told me they were in the central building. Everything else he told us was truth."

Kast shrugged. "Maybe he didn't know. Maybe they hid it from him."

Stix readied his rifle. "Eknath is at the top of our bad guy list."

Kal began to think so too. This Eknath was deep in the mix of things and it seemed in the absence of Riokon and his wife, he had taken control. "Sounds like a plan." He cursed the fact he couldn't get in touch with Rishi once again. But he could still sense the Kjoil's presence but even with the Force he couldn't break through an invisible barrier that surrounded his Kjoil friend.

Was Eknath influencing himself as well?

"Stay in touch, guys," Call said over the helmet's internal comlink before the three soldiers went on their demolition tasks.

Kast held Kal stand and the Jedi swung his left arm over the soldier's shoulder. Kast handed Kal a rifle and helped him loop the strap over his shoulder. "Your lightsaber won't be much use if we run into trouble, keep your eyes and whatever senses you might have alert, alright?"

Kal nodded and they started towards the door. "Thanks for backing me up back there. If you hadn't stood forward, I doubt I would convinced them."

Kast touched the door's controls with the muzzle of his rifle and the doors sighed as they opened. "Tell me something; you came in here with another squad of commandos. What was their designation?"

Kal had to think to remember it, it seemed so long ago. "The Deathblow, but there were a lot more than you guys. Why?"

Kast sniggered, and it lightened the mood substanstially. "I've heard of them. It makes me feel a little better about our chances."

Kal decided not to ask. What his team had done had been beyond impressive to him, but it was encouraging to him that Kast supposedly believed his own team to be a bit higher of the proficiency ladder.

"But don't thank me yet. I still have a very bad feeling about this."

They made their way south, moving slower than Kast would have preferred but he relied on the Jedi's sense to keep him alert of trouble. Both rifles were trained on the path ahead and apart from the building's natural yawning when the winds outside battered the outer walls, there was no activity.

Nevertheless Kast was so focused he almost dropped the Jedi when his gauntlet lit up with an incoming holo transmission.

Before he could even activate it, the transmission began playing itself. By the message's coding Kast quickly realized it was coming from inside the station, and it was being relayed to every frequency available around it.

* * *

The fire flickered, teased by the slight wind that still crawled through from outside, outside of the tilted AT-AT. Rishi sat in an awkward position. The walker had been destroyed in the battle, but like some great beast of an untold past, its skeleton remained. It's front legs had buckled beneath it, and the machine now laid with its front and head buried in the snow, while the rear pointed to the dark clouds above.

Rishi sat on the slanted floor, his feet supported against the neckrest of a chair, looking down into the small fire he'd made at the entrance to the creature's head. When the fire was touched by wind that crept in from the outside it made a sound not unlike the cracking of a whip.

The inside of the AT-AT's belly stank of burnt fabric and death. He's used his own cloak as material for the fire, which accounted for the toxic scent of burning clothes. As for the scent of death...

Human flesh smelled a lot like any other meat when put to the fire, rich, thick, an inviting scent to his senses, if not for the knowledge that it was a human being that was burning. He consciously blocked the scent from his nostrils, finding it an unnessecary part of the ritual. Master Skar's body was all but gone, and what remained was so covered in flames that he no longer could tell ash from bones, or skin from glowing embers.

He couldn't remember when he'd stopped crying but he fell suddenly aware of the fact that his cheeks were dry. It could have been the heat from the fire that had dried his face, or it could have been his tearducts had finally gone empty. He didn't think about it much, only resigned himself to the fact with another aching sigh.

He felt fictional; he felt as if what was happening right before his eyes was a demented dream, an illusion, something he'd seen on the Holonet. He couldn't fully embrace the fact yet that it was real, that it wasn't just a horrible image of what might happen. Because it was too real.

Master Skar had been the image of splendor that had made him want to be a Kjoil Knight, an idol to which he'd obeyed and listened and admired. He had been indestructible, in the same way of children saw their parents as immortal and without fault. God-like figures.

A human body in flames.

Too real.

He sighed again. Moments like this seemed to last forever and yet he knew one day he would look back upon it and only see frozen images. All these thoughts would not feel the way they did now, the ache in his chest would be forgotten and he would be able to shun the memory away with only a thought.

And there he remained a little longer, suffering the intolerable pain of being trapped in a moment that invited past but offered only future. Thoughts of loneliness came as often as every star-shaped snowflake that dropped from the sky, and even though he knew the world was falling about no more than a few kilometers away, he wanted more time.

More time to say goodbye.

But he also knew there would never be enough time. Once the fire died he would still sit there and stare at the ashes, watch the black smoke as it danced like a puppet of the winds.

Saying goodbye his words fell flat against the black walls of the walker, bereft of meaning or connection, he was talking just for the sake of talking, trying to mend himself by pouring every thought or feeling out into the open, letting it all just flow out of him. He beat himself up, he forgave himself, he lost himself, he found himself; all of it came in circles, like a story-teller losing track of where the story began and where it ended. Trying to make up a happier ending, a reedeemable ending, or just an ending that left him with some motive or resolve to return to the fighting -

His lips stopped talking, only to form a smile. "Were you listening the whole time?"

The Force sent waves of the intruder's movements to his open mind, letting him know exactly where the person was. The intruder's mind was locked airtight, and Rishi accepted it. He recognized the sensation this person was radiating in the Force, the one that had spoken to his mind. He debated with himself whether or not to turn around to see who it was, but decided not to.

The voice sat down in the same position as him, leaning his feet against the neckrest that the back of Rishi's head fell against. He could almost see the tip of boots at the top of his vision, but looked no further.

It could wait.

_Not the whole time...you moved faster than I could follow._

Rishi smiled at his own success. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked without any fear in his voice.

The intruder shook his head. _No...you mistake me. I never intended to appear as an enemy to you. I am quite the opposite._

Rishi was still smiling, though he wasn't sure why. He felt safe, he guessed. "A friend?"

The voice chuckled gently in his head, a softer sound he'd never heard. _Well...not exactly a friend. I am the voice of the wilderness. The voice deep down inside you, your conscience calling._

Rishi's smile dampened a bit. "Don't tell me I'm imagining you."

_You're not...and yet I am dead._

"Dead?"

He felt the intruder nod his head. _Long ago, on this very planet._

Rishi reached out with the Force again, and allowed no preconceptions to disturb his sight. "But you are alive...I feel you as alive as..as...as the snow falling outside."

_Yes, you feel it...but you cannot see it._

Rishi shook his head. "No, but I know it's out there. I sense it."

_Feeling and sense are not the same._

Rishi bit the side of his mouth. "I know. But there's not much deviding them."

_There's not?_

"You think so?"

_Feelings are your heart's eyes, and sense is your heart's fingers. Feelings are what you know inside to be true and real, and sense is what confirms it. You feel me as you feel the snow, but do you sense me like you sense the snow?_

Rishi closed his eyes and rechecked and reevaluated what he was actually getting from the intruder. "No. I feel you're right behind me, I feel your presence. But I don't sense you, I don't know what you are, who you are. You're like a spirit."

_You're learning._

Rishi sighed for the thousandth time. "Learning what? How to nit-pick choice of words? This is basic training."

_Then you must have missed a lesson or two. You cannot lie to me, Rishi. Only to yourself._

Rishi scoffed. "I'm lying to myself?"

_Yes._

"How?"

_You've learned to draw from the Force, to pull energy and strength from the Force, and then use it as you need. You use it so carelessly that you forgot what a wonder it truly is. When you move a finger, you do not make a conscious decision to move the finger. It happens faster than sound or thought, impulses running through your nerves and muscles. You don't even think about it. You use the Force in the same manner. _

_You've grown so accustomed to it's presense, you lean upon it like a crutch, much like the Jedi of old. When you flash your lightsaber, you do it so carelessly and without conscious thought, that you've forgotten the joy you felt the day you made the weapon._

Rishi thought back. It had been a big day for him, and in the days that followed he couldn't take his hands away from it. He spent days and eventually weeks training with the weapon, so much it was always recharging whenever he wasn't sparring with droids.

He felt the weapon on his hip, and although it wasn't his, he could feel Kal through it. He could tap into the memories Kal had of the weapon, and feel his joy as well. He was glad to find that Kal was equally as oblivious to the weapon's initial joy now, also taking it for granted like this intruder said he did.

"So? What's the lesson? You want me to give thanks whenever I use the Force or my lightsaber?" he asked mockingly.

_No._

"Then what?"

_I want you to stop using the Force the way you always have...and find another way._

Rishi's head came up, away from the neckrest. "Stop using the Force? Are you insane? Without it I'd - "

_Die?_

"Yes, in combat I would."

_So you admit that all of your talents and abilities are purely the Force and no so much yourself?_

Rishi shook his head. "No...it's...it's a joint effort."

_Is it?_

Rishi began to doubt. "Isn't it?"

_You are merely the lens through which the sun shines. A conduit._

"Yeah, but...aren't all Jedi?"

_You are not a Jedi._

Again those words.

"What do I have to do?"

_Change the lens._

"How?"

_When you draw upon the Force you target inwards, finding a center inside yourself your Master has taught you to find. It is a seed inside of you, from which the Force flows through. But what if there is another seed, another place from which the Force can flow?_

Rishi sat up as much as he could, and again resisted the urge to look over his shoulder, to identify his newfound teacher.

"You mean...start all over?" Rishi knew his training was lacking due to his Master's own failings, but he'd never imagined it would go to such extent.

_Yes...and do it right this time. The Kjoil were the sons of destiny, the hands of fate. There were two and now there is one. A great responsiblity dwells upon your shoulders, Rishi. You have the ability to make the future, to design the path ahead for all of the Galaxy._

"But the future is gone?"

_No, Rishi. It is waiting for you._

Rishi interlocked his fingers beneath his chin and nestled his elbows on his knees. "Won't this make me just another lens? For a greater power?"

_No, Rishi. It will make you a sun, and the world will be your lens._

"Like Vader?" he said before thinking. "He is much of the reason the Galaxy is in the shape it is now."

_Imagine Darth Vader's powers in the hands of person who knows the difference between right and wrong. A person who knows the true way to a better Galaxy._

Rishi smiled fiendishly. "I thought you were trying to tell me there is no truth earlier."

_Ah, you picked up on that. Good._

"So how will I know what is the best, and true, way?"

The voice grinned. _With destiny and fate as your sword and shield, Rishi, you will become truth itself - _

"And what's in it for you?" Rishi asked bluntly. "Why are you doing this, telling me these things?"

_Because the world is falling, Rishi. It needs you._

Rishi frowned. "This coming from the same person who told me I wasn't needed here, that I would be fighting the Force itself. That I was standing in the way of destiny?"

_You defied destiny, Rishi, and won. Now it is yours to command. It is your responsibility to reforge the paths, make new connections. Tie the ends you severed by coming here. If you do not, the world will fall into darkness deeper than Vader ever did._

Rishi looked at the ashes down below and nodded towards them. "What about him? He was stronger than me, stronger than anyone. Why wasn't he given these words?"

_Because he was not destined to be the light you will be. His destiny laid in death, releasing you of your leash and giving you stronger power. He was an abormination, Rishi. A shadow on the sun. In a way...he is the one giving the words to you. If not for him, I would not be here._

Rishi shook his head. "I don't have time to start training now. There's a war out there."

_A war you will not end. A war in which you never had a place. With your presence here you're making it worse, widening the enemy forces, worsening their plans. You are becoming your Master, Rishi, a shadow. _

_Break away from it. Do not follow in his footsteps. This war...is insignificant compared to the changes you will make. The right person, at the right place, at the right time, can change all that was ever known._

"You're feeding me grand ideas, inticing me," Rishi nodded to himself, "but I don't trust you. I don't know you."

_Turn your head and you will know who I am._

Rishi shook his head. "You're failing your own lesson. I feel you, and even without knowing what or who you are, I know I shouldn't trust you. I feel it in my heart."

_You're making a mistake. The greatest of all mistakes. You are not meant to be a servant of the Force! You can bend it to your own will! _

_You can stop all of this!_

"Leave me," Rishi said wearily. "I've grown tired of you. Your words won't affect me anymore." He stood up. "I am going back to Hope's Haven, and I'm going to stop this war. That's all I have. The now. Future is shaped in the now, and now I'm in the wrong place. Maybe you're not my enemy...but if you are a friend, you would understand."

_Foolish of you._

Rishi suspected that answer. "Enemy then." He swirled and ignited the lightsaber as he came around, the blue blade instantly illuminating all of the AT-AT's insides. But where the intruder should have sat was nothing, only an impression in the seat that proved someone had been there.

_Very well, Rishi Kjoil. If you will not hear it from me...I will bring you someone you will trust._

Rishi moved the lightsaber like a torch, but still saw no one. Until such time this intruding voice would make truth of his words, Rishi had only one thing in which he still had faith. Fighting those who had killed his Master.

"Fine," he powered down the blade, a disgruntled look upon his face. When the sound of the blade died out his ears picked up on another sound. The comlink on his gauntlet was receiving a holo-transmission, a live feed from inside Hope's Haven itself. Rishi flicked on the comlink and the space before him lit up in a bluish glow as the feed came through.

* * *

Admiral Gout Saul pleaded for the soldiers clutching his arms to let go, to dig their armored nails out of his sleeves and let him be. The tips of his boots barely touched the polished black floors as they hauled him through the last doors and dropped him onto his stormach inside the main control room of Hope's Haven.

They backed away as he yelped in pain and stood on opposite sides of the room leading into the room. The chamber had windows all around its circular walls, giving an excellent view of the station, although most of it was obscurred by the winds. There was an impressive collection of terminals, consoles and machinery inside the small room.

Saul rolled over on his back, steadying his breathing, his hands reflexivly searching his body for anything to use as a weapon. He decided against using his rank insignia as a cutting device and instead sat up. He realized his only weapon of choice was a hard stare and he doubted that would pierce their armor.

Captains Kerner and Cygan were already present in the chamber, the commanders of the additional star destroyers in his fleet, kept secure by containment droids, their arms locked behind their backs. Cygan looked to have been difficult to capture, bruises covered the left side of his face, a black eye oozing tears. Kerner looked pleased to see his Admiral unscathed.

"Admiral Gout Saul," a slithering voice said behind him.

He looked over his shoulder and saw a bald man with odd scars running across his face. With eyes that shone red like a dying sun, Saul couldn't help thinking he'd met this species before. There was something familiar about him, but the origin of that familiarity eluded him.

He raised himself and faced the man, clinging to the last bits of honor he still kept in check. "That's me." Behind the man was an older gentleman who was wearing the same kind of cloak that Rishi Kjoil and his Jedi companion had worn, uniforms of the Jedi. Also present was a man who'd identified himself as Jovis, wearing black Sons of Destiny armor but no helmet, and a satisfied grin on his face.

The red-eyed one looked to the two soldiers that had brought Saul here and dismissed them with a nod.

"Do you remember?" the man asked in a low secretive voice.

Saul wanted to nod but his mind still struggled to recall where and when he'd met this man before. He shook his head. "No."

The man unfolded his hand from inside the sleeves of his cloak and moved it slowly between them -

- and instantly memories flooded through Saul like an erupting geyser. A part of his mind that had never been there before was unlocked and Saul shook the feeling off, feeling as if he was shedding old skin, a shell he'd worn on the outside while his true nature had now been unleashed.

A sinister smile appeared on his face and everything he'd done up to that point filled him with a sensation of completion. The man before him, Master Eknath, his face was then so familiar that Saul couldn't even understand not recognizing it before. Saul shivered with excitement. "Yes, much better."

He remembered meeting Eknath the first time, striking an agreement. But an agreement that entailed that Saul would undergo a dangerous play on his mind. He remembered accepting the danger in regards to the reward, and now looked back on his last few months as a state of unconsciousness. A veil that had been pulled over his mind to hide others from his real intentions. There had only been a single drive in his mind, the only part of his mission. To -

"I brought the boy, just like you wanted."

Captain Kerner's jaw dropped, but soon his face went from surprise to realization. "You - you traitor!" He fought against his restraints but it got him nowhere. "Admiral, you can't do this!"

Jovis chuckled. "You made him forget he was a traitor. The perfect spy."

The older Jedi in the back frowned. "It is dangerous to tamper with the mind in such a way. It can lead to many - "

"Yes, I did," Eknath interrupted, ignoring Master Raine. Eknath folded his arms around him and focused on the Admiral. "Yes, you've done far better than I expected. Did you feel any discomfort?"

Saul shook his head once more. "Until you released me...I was a ghost. A perfect cover for me to perform as you asked."

Captain Cygan stirred inside the droid's grip but was too weak to protest. Kerner glared upon the Admiral with disgust. "You betrayed the Republic, Saul. You led all those men to their deaths!"

Saul looked over at the captain, silencing him with a stare. "One more won't make any difference, Captain Kerner. Don't test me."

Eknath chuckled, amused by the interaction. "I've never tried this technique before. But with your proximity to the local Jedi of Coruscant it was important that they sensed no danger from you. And how could they, when even you had forgotten what you were trying to achieve?"

Saul felt proud of himself, smiling slyly. "But I haven't forgotten your end of the bargain, Master Eknath."

The telepath chuckled. "No...though I admit I often lamented not thinking of it before. Money has been transferred to your account," he pulled out a small datapad from inside his cloak, "here's the transfer confirmation."

Saul accepted the datapad and read it over. Everything was in order and looked authentic. "Excellent. The entry codes for Coruscant's defensive shield are onboard the _Masamune _and the other destroyers."

Captain Kerner suppressed his anger. With the entry codes the star destroyers could easily re-enter Coruscant's atmosphere, which had been Riokon's plan all along. Why he so willingly had destroyed his own ships; new ones had already been in route. The Republic retaliation in the form of star destroyers with entry codes to Coruscant had always been part of the plan. Any fleet attacking Coruscant without entry codes would be devastated by their immense orbital defences.

With the codes the Sons of Destiny could sneak right past their defensive array, get in close and personal.

Saul slid the datapad inside his uniform. "Early retirement. With these credits I'll buy myself a small corner of the Galaxy, live out my days care free." He looked back up at Eknath. "What happens now?"

Eknath's head tilted. "For you or me?"

Saul wasn't sure. "Both. You don't need me anymore, and you know I'm not a risk to your endavour. You can easily warp my mind again, if you felt safer that way."

Eknath looked thoughtful. "You were a great hero of the Republic when I crossed your path. And I thought I might have to tamper with your mind to have your cooperation. But you were easily swayed. Why does it come so easy for you to leave it behind?"

Saul smirked. "Old age, I suppose. Time belittles any attachment when death starts gaining on you."

Raine scoffed in the back.

Captain Kerner was furious, eager to break his bond and choke the life out of Admiral Saul. "He's a lying sack of fierfek! He betrayed the Republic, he'll betray you too! He has no honor, no - "

Jovis crossed to the captain and knocked his mouth shut with a quick right. He hefted the man's head by the hair and pulled it back, putting a blaster to his temple. "Say the word, Admiral, and I'll empty this man's skull - "

A lightsaber hummed to life in the back of the room and everyone turned to see Jedi Master Raine in his defense pose, the blade aimed at Jovis. "You will not hurt that man, Jovis. Stand aside."

Saul started to speak -

But Eknath's deep mocking laughter drowned out even the vibrant blade in Raine's hands. His red eyes were blazing with fire, and he faced the Jedi Master. "Ahh, the quiet one takes a stand. What is it, old friend? Has the Force finally spoken to you once more?"

Raine's face was full of defiance. "Those men need not die."

Eknath chuckled even louder. "No, they do not. But do you know _why_? Has the Force explained that much to you?"

The Jedi Master's blade wavered slightly, a sign of doubt. "Why don't you tell me, _old friend_?"

Eknath turned his side to the Jedi Master and nodded to Jovis. The mercenary lowered his weapon and released his grip on Kerner's hair. "We need them to persuade Coruscant's security, along with the onboard entry codes. I will influence their minds, so that the charade will be as authentic as possible. And once we gain access to Coruscant's atmosphere, those destroyers will be plunged straight into the planet's surface. The impact and destruction of the destroyers will be devastating, and the radioactive seepage of the generators onboard the ships will make vast regions of Coruscant uninhabitable for a very long time."

Raine's bravery wilted, his eyes wandering. The lightsaber died and he stood back, a million thoughts running through his head. A million terrifying scenarios. Now he knew the extent of the plans he'd helped further.

Even Jovis showed signs of contemplation, diminishing within , becoming a pale shadow of himself.

Captain Kerner spat blood on the floor. "You...monster."

Eknath's eyes fell upon the Admiral once more. "And you still feel no regret for your betrayal? Now that you know the extent of our design."

Although his former pride had wilted slightly, Saul still kept his chin raised. "I didn't do this for your cause, Eknath. I couldn't care less. To be honest, I doubt you will suceed."

Eknath raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Raine had gathered his wits again and stared into Eknath's back. "When did Koll tell you this? Last time we saw him, none of us knew what he was really aiming for."

Eknath didn't bother to turn and look at the Jedi. "When he scolded me for scarring Joon."

Raine looked confused, but as seconds passed he found comprihention. "It was...just a charade?"

"Correct," Eknath said in a menacing voice, "Riokon cared little for young Joon. What you witnessed was an interaction in the Force between me and the General, a show to fool the rest of you. He told me what he wanted me, _us_, to acheive while he was gone." He folded his hands inside his sleeves. "It came as a surprise to me as well, but I've come to understand why Koll left things the way he did." His voice lowered slightly. "But we will discuss this matter in private later, Master Raine."

Eknath looked over at Jovis and sent a telepathic wave to the mercenary, taking great care to spying ears and eyes. _Take the captains with you to the main hangar down below and make sure they are kept alive. Amass our remaining forces and wait for me._

Jovis looked off at first, not used to voices speaking in his head, but soon regained his composure. He nodded to Eknath and led the restrained captains out of the control room, leaving Eknath alone with Raine and the Admiral.

Eknath's gaze fell upon the Admiral with a level of pity and regret. "I thank you for your service to our cause, Admiral Gout Saul. But I find your lack of faith a bit upsetting."

Saul's lips parted but only air fell through.

"Your mind speaks to me, Admiral," Eknath said in a raised voice, his hands falling out of their sleeves. "I don't know how you've mastered this control of your thoughts, but it is impressive. However, I know minds too well not to see it. Your thoughts speak to me like the mumblings of a sleeping man. And I see your intention. That little story about dissapearing into a corner of the Galaxy revealed the crack in your defense."

The Admiral started to tremble, his eyes darting back and forth between Eknath and the Jedi Master. "I - "

"You're running back to the Republic," Eknath's eyes ignited with fury, "and you are going to betray me."

Saul took a step back in involuntary fear, and quickly realized that proved Eknath was right. A man without reason to fear would have stood firmly and faced the accusations. Eknath seemed to grow before him, his dark cloak and red evil eyes becoming more and more a nightmare even his darkest dreams couldn't match. "I won't - "

"Don't lie to me, Admiral!" Eknath bellowed, his voice full of thunder. "You _cannot _fool me!"

Saul started as his back went up against a wall. He was trapped. His jaw quivered in fear and his hands started to move up in defense. "Please! You got what you wanted from me! I brought the boy here, just as you commanded. I gave up my life to help you!"

Eknath started to chuckle lowly, his eyes became slits, dulling the red light pouring from them. "Oh, you _will _die...but not by my hand." His right hand moved up to indicate a small holographic transmitter on a nearby console. "What has transpired here has been transmitted to all local frequencies inside and outside this station."

Saul felt the world dissolve around him, everyone knew now. Even those onboard the star destroyers. With what bravery he could summon he cursed Eknath to hell, and his fingers began looking for an opening in the wall behind him. He knew there was a door somewhere behind him.

Eknath's hand moved over in the Admiral's direction, unlocking the door behind him and Saul fell through and landed on his back, instantly cowering and crawling backwards.

Eknath snorted.

"Yes! Run, Admiral! You may run and you may live. None of my men will touch you." His head bowed slightly, and he spoke with a sinister whisper. "But I have a feeling the very package you delievered to me, is about to come looking for _you_."

* * *

The hologram faded out of existence above Kast's wrist, but him and the Jedi were still staring at the air above it long after.

"They're trying to lure him out," Kast finally said, "your friend."

Kal nodded. "I think you're right."

"Would he fall for it?" Kast asked.

Kal couldn't help making a nervous smile. "He'd know it's a trap, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to take the bait."

Kast cursed and just as he suspected his helmet's comlink was activated.

"Kast, this is Salvor. What was that all about?"

Kast resumed walking, holding Kal upright as best as he could. "Seems we weren't the only ones getting worked over, Lead. Kal and his Jedi friend were set up by a Republic Admiral. Seems his entire mission here was really to hand over the other Kjoil." Though he hadn't eaten in a long time, he still tasted sour in his mouth. "Like we thought, the whole Republic is falling apart. All those soldiers...they didn't care what happened to them."

"Cut the chatter," Call burst into the transmission, "keep in mind it was just one Admiral who betrayed us. The other captains weren't involved. _One _bad seed."

"Tell that to whoever the dead left behind," Kast sneered. "Kal seems to think it's another set-up, to lure out the other Kjoil. Kal also thinks this guy Rishi might choose to take the bait."

Stix's grunt exploded in Kast's ear. "Can't say I blame him. Wouldn't mind putting my rifle to that Admiral's temple."

Salvor sighed noticeably. "What does Kal suggest?"

Kast looked over at Kal. Kal didn't know what to say. Rishi could take care of himself, but then again if they knew where the Admiral was heading and knew that Rishi was heading there too, it presented an oppertunity to get in touch with Rishi and link up with him again. Kal relayed that idea to Kast.

"Anyone know where the Admiral might be headed?"

"Not many ships left," Call noted, "last birds are about to take off with the last of the army."

"What!" Salvor shouted. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I was about to call it in when that other transmission came through," Call explained, "I had to cross the hangar to get to my objective. Crawled through the ventilation shafts under the hangar to make time. Didn't feel like reporting it when they were only two feet above me, Lead."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds.

"Doesn't make sense," Salvor finally said, "what about the cloning facility? They're just gonna leave it here?"

"Guess they just needed the one clone," Kast ventured, "maybe its not as important to them as it is to the Republic."

Salvor agreed. "Doesn't mean there might not be stragglers behind. Everyone; stay on your toes."

"I hear ya," Call responded.

"Roger that," Stix added.

Kast only nodded to himself. "Getting back to the point; no one's seen any ships left behind? No idea where the Admiral might be headed?"

"What about those repair boats?" Stix suggested. "The ones they used to fly between the orbital repair yards and the ground station?"

Kal knew what he meant. He'd seen some of those boats in the hangar he'd passed through when he first came to Hope's Haven. "I've seen some of those, in the northern structure," he said to Kast, "they looked flightworthy."

Kast nodded. "Kal reports seeing boats in the north section."

"They can't travel through hyperspace," Salvor pointed out. "I doubt the star destroyers are gonna give him a ride."

Stix grinned the way only Stix could. "Hyperspace or not...if you had a vengeful Jedi coming for you, I don't think you'd care."

Call, being the one going to the northern structure, unleased a series of curses. "Stix, next time I see you, I'm going to stuff every piece of ordanance you got down your throat."

Stix chuckled merrily. "How I always wanted to go."

"Alright then," Salvor cleared his throat, "Call, new objective; try to RV with the Admiral at the repair boats. Detain him, he's a war criminal and a traitor."

"Affirmative," Call confirmed, "but what about my prior objective?"

"Once, and if, you find the Admiral and the Kjoil, Stix will meet up with you and complete your bomb run," Salvor's slight grin was audible, "you hear that, Stix? Double duty."

Call was the one to chuckle that time and even Kast and Kal couldn't help breaking in a smile.

Stix's reply was dry and bereft of humor. "Keep your eyes open, Call. It ain't work if it involves explosives."

* * *

Raine followed Eknath's lead as usual as they entered the main hangar of the main building, a vast space filled with the remaining soldiers of their army, as well as the last few shuttles belonging to Hope's Haven. Seats onboard the handful of shuttles was limited which meant a great portion of the thousand soldiers would have to march across the snow to reach the waiting _Masamune_.

Soldiers were already boarding the few shuttles and as Eknath and Raine reached Jovis, the man guarding the two bound Republic captains, the first of the shuttles took off.

Jovis saluted them both. "We should have everyone onboard the destroyer within the next two hours. Most of them will have to cross the snow to get onboard, but I think getting off this planet will motivate them to make good speed."

Eknath smiled. Jovis had come a long way from the lonely mercenary he'd been upon arrival. Many doubted at first that the man was suited to lead the army, but his loyalty and impeccable duty had won him their trust. He still looked out of place, hints of worry occasionally crossed his face.

"Very good, commander. Make sure our captains are brought safely onboard and ensure their continued survival. They are invaluable to our mission. Move the army out to the _Masamune_. We will be with you shortly.""

Jovis nodded. "As you wish." Jovis dismissed himself and directed his hostages towards an awaiting shuttle.

Eknath's arms crossed his chest. "I see Jovis becoming the future of our army. Long after we're gone. Long after Riokon has retired, he will lead the men, as our progeny."

Raine frowned lightly. "I imagined that position was reserved for you."

Eknath smiled. "But I shall not live forever."

"There's a safe bet," Krych's voice said behind them. They both turned to see the warrior, still dressed in his magnificent armor, his white mask tainted with dried-up blood, resting a caressing hand on Talon's gigantic head. The vhronik purred beneath his caring touch. "Are we going somewhere?" he asked with a trace of anger in his voice.

Raine made a short bow to the warrior. "Yes. Our purpose here is over. The battle must be moved."

"Really?" Krych's menacing mask looked down at his pet. "Seems to me we're missing a few companions."

Raine's face clouded. "Yes...Tragedy and Gravity have fallen."

Krych nodded slowly, deep thoughts rummaging behind that featureless face. "Not to mention Junn," his voice softened, "I'm not leaving without her."

Eknath's expression changed. "We cannot hold for her - "

"But you can hold for _me_," Krych stated defiantly, "and I'm not done here. The Kjoil apprentice is also still alive." The mask moved up to look at Eknath. "He must be destroyed. He's a threat to everything we're trying to acheive. The Force will never be at full balance as long as he exists."

Eknath's eyes beamed red. "Yes, you're right. And he will surely seek to reap revenge for his Master's desmise. Leaving him alive now could come back to haunt us later." Eknath reached inside his cloak and retrieved the hilt of a lightsaber. "We found this upon his Master's body. It belonged to him. You should keep it as a trophy."

Krych accepted the lightsaber and looked it over with a frown. "If I wanted a trophy I'd collect the dead body."

Eknath shook his head. "That lightsaber carries the aura of his Master. He will come looking for it."

Krych's head came up with sudden interest, his lipless mouth forming a grin. "I see. Very well."

"But be careful," Raine urged, "there is still a team of Republic commandos hiding within the facility. As well as Fett."

"Not for long," Krych bent down on one knee next to Talon and the creature looked up at him affectionately, it's massive tail starting to wag across the floor. Krych held the animal's face in his hands and closed his eyes. Private thoughts crossed between the two and Talon suddenly sat up on it's four legs. It released a series of growls at Krych and then raced off, barging through the ranks of soldiers, knocking a few down. Talon leapt onto the far wall and dissapeared among the dark corners of the ceiling.

Krych nodded. "Talon will gather his pack and take care of the commandos."

Eknath looked impressed. "Excellent creature. I see you're not a stranger to mind-control anymore, Krych. You've grown immensely since your accident."

Krych crossed to stand before Eknath, his mask barely hiding the anger building beneath his surface. "It is not mind-control; it is loyalty. Him and I are bound to each other, but not through tricks. Do you remember what it was like knowing someone was on your side, for reasons besides manipulation and lies?"

Eknath's eyes squinted, a red vengeful stare escaping the slits. "Be very careful, Krych. I will not tolerate your threats."

Krych was not threatened. "Last time I stood this close to you, you had Joon watching you," Krych looked around, a chuckle escaping his mask, "looks like he isn't around anymore."

Eknath leaned into Krych's mask and hissed. "Go find your woman, and then we will settle this once we're clear of Regana." Eknath's eyes turned distant for a brief second, reading the horizons. "She's north of here. Take a small unit and investigate the northern structures."

Raine watched in silence as he favored. No tremor in the Force revealed the need for any involvement from him. And he admitted to himself that seeing a duel between the young Krych and Master Eknath was not something he would miss.

Krych nodded to them both and went on his way to find the woman he loved.

Eknath spat curses at the man's back. "Such a fool. For all his power, he remains a hot-tempered youth. A shell housing only lunacy."

Raine shrugged. "Sooner or later he'll wear himself out. I don't believe we need to worry about him."

Eknath contemplated. "Maybe. His savagery will only work to our advantage. It will put pressure on the enemy, keeping them vigilant and he'll help us draw out the Kjoil and Boba Fett."

Raine looked uninterested, at peace with himself and the thought of soon leaving Regana only a memory. "There's good underneath his anger." Raine walked off to join the soldiers being loaded onto shuttles. "The brightest of diamonds are not found. They are made."

* * *

Resting upon his skills as an intrusion expert Call stayed concealed inside the shadows of the corridor, keeping a keen eye on his surroundings. His new sneaking suit kept him somewhat dry despite the clammy sensation of sweat coursing down his frame that bothered him. It felt like he had taken a shower fully dressed. Even his short hair stuck to his scalp like a wet towel.

The whole thing stank; the enemy already knew they were here and the only thing Call had going for him was that the power for the complex had been shut down, making the corridors dark as night. Call relied on the thermal scope in his helmet but he knew the enemy would be too, which meant being extra careful would be the best course of action. As much as he wanted to move, Call knew he couldn't rush it. To survive in elements like this you'd have to put yourself aside the distractions, you'd have to ignore the clammy sensation of his suit, the darkness, the fear, and that damn cold he felt creeping up the back of his nose.

The narrow corridor was dark and stank of grease, even the walls reeked of oil, tangles of pipes humming incessantly over his head. The whole place felt like the inside of a tin can, the walls moaning from the duress of the powerful winds outside, almost giving him the impression of being swallowed by a living metal beast. The yawning of the metal made it harder for him to listen for dangers but it worked both ways and made it harder for the enemy as well.

Call caught a message on the bottom of his HUD, warning him of activity further down the corridor, enemies, three of them. Resting his rifle against his shoulder he began to hear them too as they came around the bend of the corridor. Call slid as much as he could behind the bulkhead he was crouched by, peeking around the edge of it.

Eyeing the opposition skeptically as always, Call frowned to himself. He counted three enemies; fully-armed soldiers like the ones they'd encountered dozens of times before. So far they weren't getting any closer, they stayed in a guard patrol at the end of the dark hallway.

Call gave himself amble time to study them as they patrolled, monitoring their behavior and patterns. They were careful, but not enough. In their walk he spotted small signs of fatigue, things you wouldn't be able to tell if you hadn't been trained to look for them. They were tired and they weren't expecting trouble.

Besides their lax nature, the only thing good about them was that their heavy equipment and rifles made so much noise when they moved. Call was wearing only the essentials, all of his gear had been tightened down and handled in a way that minimized any sound or clutter when he moved. His entire outfit was based on the principle that less was better, making him as small as he could be. Stealth required a lot of focus on the smallest of things, if you wanted to survive.

But he also realized that all the gear they were carrying would make it harder for him to take them down silently. All that equipment was bound to make a racket if it touched the ground.

Rather than letting the fear of the odds against him overwhelm him, Call shunned them and relied on his instincts. He'd been through worse than this. At least he came prepared for something like this. He switched the firing selection on his rifle to single fire. With the silencer attached he was quarantined as little noise as possible if he had to take them down.

Another message appeared on his HUD and Call was concentrating so strongly on the three soldiers down the corridor that he nearly jolted when it came. _Why not just put a bell on my butt? _Call thought to himself as he read the message from Stix.

_First bomb planted, headed your way._

Call sighed. With three guards no more than two hundred feet away, sneaking out of there would be harder than taming a reek. Call bided his time, these guys were careful enough that he might not be able to slip away unnoticed but he would have to try.

Resolutely he unhitched an empty clip from his equipment harness and tossed it down the hall, away from himself. The clip cluttered several times before coming to a loudly end behind the soldiers.

Each of them jolted and reacted instantly, lining up their weapons. The clip had landed perfectly, right where Call wanted it to; its position forced the guards to turn their backs to him as he slid away.

Call ran backwards down the hall, with his rifle held out in front of him, and made it around the corner without being detected. Ignoring the clammy sensation of his suit, he moved only when the enemy was not looking his way, careful to step as lightly as he could on the ball of his heel to minimize sound. He felt like a dog running an obstacle course; always moving, jumping over barriers, crawling through tight gaps, running up stairs, but unlike a dog he had to freeze completely between each obstacle, becoming as much a part of the environment as he could by utilizing the shadows and colors of the environment.

Call felt claustrophobic as he crept down the hallway, flattening himself to the wall and walking sideways down it to make his frame as small as possible. With the rifle in hand he carried on through the halls, making his way for the closest entryway that would lead him to where the repair boats were.

Pressing himself against the wall he cautiously peeked around the corner to see a soldier guarding the entryway. That was the entryway he wanted, which meant he'd have to confront the guard. Call froze instantly, becoming a statue and blending in with the shadows and the darkness of the environment perfectly.

Call was surprised a guard was even there, but felt lucky the guard hadn't moved away from his post. If he had he might have found Call in the other hallway, wide open for an ambush from behind.

Wasting no time, Call leaped out from nowhere, came up behind the guard, wrapped his arm around the man's neck while he kicked away his feet beneath him. The man fell down and snapped his neck in Call's arm. The body went limb instantly and Call carried the body into the shadows, making sure none of the equipment made any sound as he hid the body.

Slicing through the door's controls, the entryway irised open and Call stepped across the doorstep -

* * *

The foreign lightsaber in his hand bounced against his thigh as Krych marched down the darkened corridor, a group of soldiers following him, their rifles at the ready. Krych pursued that sense in the Force, that drain that Junn was drawing from. Using it he would find her quickly before this matter was drawn out even further, before even more of their soldiers and plans were lost.

Krych heard the blip on his wrist gauntlet. A motion sensor had been triggered ahead of him. It wasn't the Kjoil and it wasn't Junn, which left only the Republic commandos. Seemed he might have to make a small detour.

He pulled his comlink to his mouth. "Loyalty here; reroute minimal power supply to the nortern structures."

The reply came back quickly. "At twenty percent efficiency, commander."

Krych smiled beneath his mask. "Close entry 77B."

* * *

Call was already through the hatch when he heard the metal on metal screeching. The doors behind him irised shut too fast for him to prevent. Call threw himself at the entry way in a fury, snarling and cursing like a savage. "No!" Not because he wanted to go back that way, but because it meant he was found.

And trapped.

Call broke into his combat mode. With the rifle following wherever his eyes looked he moved on down the hallway, he knew he couldn't stay there. The door couldn't have been a coincidence, someone had triggered it. Call felt like he was back at the Gauntlet. It was exactly the kind of thing the Gauntlet trained you for. Instant changes, forcing his attention to its fullest and making him sharp as a vibroblade.

He continued down the dark corridors of the facility, using his HUD's thermal sighting to keep his orientation, it would be easy for him to get lost in here.

Finding a safe spot to hide, Call activated the comm in his helmet and tried to reach the others, but there was nothing but static on the frequency. Call switched frequencies and got in touch with Tracker, the hovering droid somewhere outside above the station, working on patching through to the enemy's communication. "Tracker, this is Call. I've been cut off. Track my signal."

Tracker answered with a twitter. _Multiple targets approaching._

Call nodded bitterly. "Tracker, see if you can get in touch with the others, tell them what's happened - "

Tracker interrupted with a warble. _Unable to contact. Frequency scrambled._

Call cursed. His walls were closing in. He couldn't wait here any longer. He had to go on. Into the trap. "Tracker, find some means of communicating with the others. Transmit my location to them. And hurry," Call resolutely snap-cocked his rifle, "I have a feeling I'm gonna need them."

He disconnected himself with the present surroundings to listen for sounds further down the hall. And clear enough he found some. From what he could tell by the sounds of the boots on the metal floor, three soldiers were on to his present location. Call supported the rifle against his shoulder, aiming down the hall at where the threat had to be coming from.

A message appeared on his HUD. _It is possible to patch into the enemy's communication system and send a transmission._

Call managed to smile, those boots coming ever closer. "Thank you, Tracker."

He heard the droid's mournful moaning. _Be careful._

"Call out."

Call saw three shapes in the darkness down the hall and jumped out, blasting a barrage of shots at the advancing soldiers. As the soldiers retaliated with their own weapons he felt a bitter taste coming up his throat. Feeling the sweat starting to break on his back again, he caught himself seeing his teammates' faces before his eyes. Call, Salvor, Stix and the others long gone. He wished he could have spent more time reminiscing, suddenly he had to fight back precious memories if he wanted a chance to make new ones.

This was not gonna end a good way. But he hoped that the others would still make it out of there alive and that whatever he was about to die for was worth it. That this Rishi Kjoil would be able to stop whatever was happening on this planet.

Motivated by that hope he made sure to put up a fight, challenging the so-called expertise of these soldiers. They managed to fan out on either side of the corridor, one of them staying in the center, while the other two shot from secure corners. Call let them have it, gunning down the center soldier with a rain of red darts, seeing the shots pound the man's armor harmlessly, but the sheer force of the darts pushed the man over on his back, taking him out of the fight for critical moments.

Next thing he did was arm the grenade launcher beneath his barrel, setting it to detonate the moment it made contact. A line of smoke shot from his rifle, detonating in a sphere of fire in the center of the opposition. The soldier on the floor took the brunt of the explosion, dying instantly, the ones to the sides pushed back against the walls and left lying on the floor.

In the two seconds it would take them to reorient themselves, Call was on them. He ran and jumped on the nearest, unsheathing his knuckle blade and slamming it down to its hilt in the man's neck. Before the man was even dead the second soldier was on his feet, kicking Call away from his wounded teammate.

Call recovered and attacked with his vibroblade, cutting circles in the air with the tiny dagger. He managed to make eye contact with his attacker, seeing the man's face behind his dark helmet. Call wished he hadn't because those eyes haunted him deeply when he grabbed the attacker's wrist as he struck, gutting the man with a swift movement across the belly, and then a second cut across the throat. The soldier coughed blood onto his own visor as he dropped to his knees, leaning against Call's legs. Blood on his hands, Call sheathed his blade and reached for his rifle.

The door that had separated him slid open and a group of soldiers filed through, their rifles already screaming blue bolts as they entered. Call hunched down behind the same shelter that one of the dead soldiers had used earlier and plucked a thermal detonator from his equipment belt.

Tossing it down the hall, he opened fire at the closest soldiers while the detonator touched down in the center of the group. Rolling to a halt among them, the soldiers ignored him and started to distance themselves from the bomb.

Call used the distraction to gun them down, taking three of them out. The detonation that followed rocked through the hallway, shaking the entire structure, killing everyone within a five meter radius.

Then the silence followed and all that remained was the smoke filling the hallway, the ringing in his ears and the foul smell of blood in the thick air. Call sighed, the heavy ringing in his ears deafening as he pushed himself up from behind the shelter -

An armored hand grabbed his throat from above, and as he looked up he saw a white doll-like face bearing down on him. Call unsheathed his knuckle blade again and started stabbing at his attacker, but all he seemed to achieve was to dent a lot of pipes. The hand raised him by his throat and pulled him up into the ceiling of the corridor, in between the thick clutter of pipes.

As the green lightsaber struck him, through him, beyond him, punctuating his intestines, he closed his eyes, finding himself in a complete darkness, trying not to think of the faces on his teammates when they would hear about his death.

* * *

Krych clutched himself to the body of the soldier for several seconds, listening to the man's breathing as it intensified, as it peaked and as it slowly faded into nothing. The body loosened inside his grip and his right hand switched off the lightsaber. The green blade slid back inside the handle and Krych untangled himself from the man, dropping the burden to the floor beneath.

The body flattened out instantly, armor cluttering and an arsenal of weapons bested by a single man with a lightsaber. Krych slithered out of the pipes and landed next to the man. He could hear the helmet's internal comlink sputtering with voices and resisted the urge to respond with a threatning invitation to come face him. He'd find them all sooner or later, if the vhroniks didn't.

His own comlink came alive. "Commander, another motion sensor has gone off in the southern facilities. Two targets."

Krych's mask revealed no emotion. "Go take care of it. This section is clear, but I still have to find Eulogy."

"Very well, commander. Good luck."

That last comment was not needed, but it brightened the darkness around his heart to know the soldiers hadn't forgotten about their former squad leader either. He considered dumping the body somewhere else but found no real reason to do so. His death hadn't felt as good as those in the battle outside, they'd been a slaughter. This one had courage and had fought right up till the end. That was honor, and he could only applaud such a thing. It almost made him feel bad about having to kill his teammates.

Something intruded on his thoughts. Spanning his awareness for motion or sound down the corridor, he heard droid-like chirping, small audible servomotors at play, distant and hazy. And the sound was fading.

"Wait!" he called down the corridor, and began to run towards the sound. He came to another intersection, listened for the sound and headed left. He could hear the droid wheeling away, trying to escape him it seemed. He called out again, running to catch up with the droid, for whatever good it might do to his mission.

He rounded another corner, just in time to see an astromech's hind wheels disappear around the next bend in the corridor.

"I said; wait!"

He went after it and sped around the corner where he'd seen the droid turn and found it sitting there. A green colored R2 unit, its dome-shaped head whirling on the axis and crying it's little mechanical brain out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, holding his hand out to calm it, "calm down."

The head stopped spinning and the droid looked at him, its every sensor reading him. It made an inquiry in subtle baby-like tones.

Krych smiled beneath his mask, even though it pained him. "That's right, I'm one of the good guys." He knelt down on one knee and held out his hand. "Krych."

The droid extended its multifunction arm from inside a compartment in its chest and they shook. The droid made a small speech beeps and whistles.

Krych understood the most of it. "Pleased to meet you, R7."

The droid folded its arm back into place and unleashed another round of high-pitched beeps, ending on a low note the way humans did when asking questions.

Krych shook his head. "No, I don't think I've met your Master. Where is he?"

The droid tootled cheerily.

"How close?"

The droid extended its arm again and before Krych could catch on, a powerful burst of electrical blue lightning shot from the end of it. Krych crashed onto his back, screaming in agony as the surges stole away his ability to defend himself. The powerful electrical shock tore open gashes on his face and he soon tasted blood. His face lit up in bright stabbing pain and he sucked it down, using it to empower his body again.

He kicked out hard with both feet, smashing the droid up against the far wall, breaking its little arm in the process. The surges died out and Krych jumped to a stand, filled with anger he whipped out his lightsaber. The droid's domed head flew off as he swept the blade across it, but before the dome touched floor he realized it was a decoy and that the real threat was still nearby.

He swirled around to guard his vulnurable side, just in time to see Boba Fett knelt down on one knee at the far end of the corridor they were in, with a grenade launcher aimed at him.

"Boba Fett?" Krych laughed, his sick chuckle loud and full of spite. "Do you really think you have what it takes?" The pain and anger was already warping his mind, bringing the Dark Side in him front and center. "You...are a mere mortal, a weakling! I am eternal, you imbecile! My spirit, a warrior's spirit, will live forever!"

Underneath Fett's helmet lips slowly formed a smile. "Never knew there was a dreamer in you, Krych."

The grenade launcher roared and a thick white stripe of smoke shot down dead center upon Krych, exploding against the floor in front of him in a thick mist of smoke and flame. Krych rolled away from the heat and the flames, a giant burning hole in the floor between him and Fett. He could see the armored bounty hunter between the smoke and cracking fire.

Enraged, he used the Dark Side to shoot himself through the fires, sliding across the floor on his heels, green lightsaber held aloft. He reached the surprised Fett in a second, slamming his elbow against the hunter's helmet. Fett fell back onto the floor, sliding a few feet before coming to a rest.

Krych towered over the downed Fett, and moved the lightsaber down beneath the man's chin. The blade managed to fizzle slightly against the edge of the helmet before Krych's world dissolved at the glimpse of something utterly ridiculous and yet so important; when he'd knocked the hunter onto his back, his helmet had come slightly loose.

And underneath the rim of the helmet, several locks of long blondish hair were now hanging out in clear view.

* * *

"Call! Call!"

Stix's desperate and hoarse shouting contained all the emotions Kast wanted to release, but he didn't have to. He sucked it down, though he knew it was the worst thing he could do. He allowed it to bottle up, his teammates had died before. These things happened in war and combat, it was a natural part. Everyone making it back alive was rare, even for commandos. It was natural, he told himself again and again.

Call was dead and they had to move on.

"Stix, calm down," Salvor urged over the frequency."

Stix sprouted obscenities. "Salvor, that's our guy down there! He needs us! I'm close by, let me go check - "

"No," Salvor said sternly, "that's an order."

"We never should have split up, we've never split up! We're a unit!" Stix cursed, but seemed to quiet down when he ran out of breath. "So what do we do? I'm done with my bomb."

"Get to the repair boats RV, see if you can intercept the Admiral. We'll just have to hope three bombs is gonna be enough. I'm almost set with my bomb. Kast, how are things on your end?"

Kast stared into the air, fighting back memories of Call, fighting the very same urge that Stix had already surrendered to. "Should be another twenty minutes, commander."

"Alright, get moving. I'll meet up with you at the RV, Stix."

"Affirmative, commander," Stix replied dryly.

The link died.

"You okay?" Kal asked the young soldier.

Kast sighed heavily. "Yeah...I'll grieve when this is over."

"Kast - "

"Kal," Kast said firmly, "I've been in this situation before. I'll be fine," Kast got up and brought his rifle around to his front, "this is what we signed up for. Don't tell me you've never tried this? As a Jedi you must've been on the frontline, seen people die? Taken lives yourself?"

Kal kept his emotions level. "I have. Doesn't mean I liked it."

"Well, no one's saying I like it. But if I start to bunch up now, Call isn't going to be alone for long. All I can do is use it. If someone was good enough to take out Call, they can take us all out. Things are happening. They're drawing us out, taking us one by one."

* * *

Krych followed Junn down several levels, his eyes on the jetpack she wore on her back, listening to the armor as it clanged up against itself. There was an odd silence between them, ever since they'd made their way down here. There was a million things he wanted to tell her, to ask her, but somehow the silence was unbreakable, thick as the armor that held her soft skin that also shelled her from his embrace.

Why had she broken away from the army? What had she been doing all this time? Why hadn't she helped her own soldiers? Why was she dressed up like Boba Fett and why had she attacked several of their own men? Granted he knew she entertained ideas of leaving the army but the Junn he knew wouldn't have sat by idle while her own men got killed. The Junn he knew would have been out there on the plains, as they had pledged long ago, to be the frontline of this very army.

He caught sight of a reflective surface as they traveled ever deeper into the structure, saw his white stainless mask staring back at him. He'd grown so used to it that he hardly ever thought of it. It had become his face, the only face he had left now. And he'd changed just as much underneath the charred skin, he'd given in to animal sides he never knew he had.

Before his injury he'd been a dignified person, someone trustworthy, someone with humanity. Someone people looked up to, and now they looked away in repulsion and fear. It shamed the heart he could sometimes still feel inside, the voices inside that told him he would not last long this way. The voices that knew death hadn't given up on him, but had merely lost track of his whereabouts.

But he wouldn't let it happen, not yet. Not before the war was over and the Sons of Destiny were victorious. If he did not live to see it through, all of his pain and his loss would be for nothing. That was his pledge, his promise and until he'd fulfilled it death would just have to wait.

She led him down inside a dark circular tunnel that seemed to go on for miles in both directions and she sat against one side of the wide pipe, detaching pieces of armor and the jetpack so she could sit comfortably. She looked just as beautiful as ever, a few scabs across her perfect face, but somehow they managed to make even more beautiful. She had the face of a strong woman, a warrior princess.

Krych awkwardly sat down opposite her and kept fighting the urge to hide his face, his mask, fearful of seeing her look on him the way others had.

Once she'd cleared away the armor she wore only the bodysuit underneath, giving him a skeptical grin. "You'll find it hard to hide it from me, Krych."

If the skin had still been there, he imagined his cheeks would have blushed. He felt smaller in her presence for some reason. He'd been looking for her and she knew it, but had still remained hidden. She knew all about his thoughts and desires and he knew nothing of hers. His fingers subconciously touched the mask, wondering if he should remove it.

"I can still see your eyes," she said softly and leaned back against the wall, "precious Krych."

He removed his fingers from the mask and interlocked them between his knees. "Where'd you get that armor?"

She looked at the outdated battlesuit lying by her feet. "General Riokon's quarters, he always liked to collect souvenirs. It's kept me safe."

He felt his fingers tighten. "_I_ could have kept you safe. Why did you hide from me?"

She groaned and began massaging her own thigh. "You had a battle to fight. I didn't."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"More than you know. Krych, the battle out there had to be won. I was in no condition to fight. I knew you could handle things on your own."

"But what about now? Why haven't you joined the rest of us? Why did you attack me?"

She looked vulnurable. "I was...hoping to knock you out, so I could get you somewhere safe."

He felt ashamed by himself that he didn't really believe her. "What about Master Eknath?"

"Like you, I suspect he has plans that doesn't involve the goals set by the Sons of Destiny. I managed to save a ysalamiri before the vhroniks ate them all. That's why he couldn't recognize me, and why Joon couldn't affect me proper with the Force. I know Eknath can't be trusted anymore."

"I feel that too. But I can't prove anything."

"But you feel it. And just feeling it means the Force knows it too."

He smirked. "What do you know about the Force?"

She showed no sign of levity. "A lot."

He scoffed. "You're not sensitive to it."

"I wasn't. But I am now," she claimed confidently.

He began to ponder if her injuries had shaken her mind. "That's impossible. You haven't been trained. You wouldn't know how - "

"When are you going to ask me about the prisoner?" she asked out of the blue. "And how he brought me back to life? That _is_ what happened. I was dead, Krych."

"Even more impossible."

Junn rolled her eyes. "I understand now why he worried Koll and Sasa so much. He was very powerful, too powerful. I think that's why I understand the Force now...some of his power must have surged into me when he revived me - "

"Junn, there's no such thing," he begged for her to understand. "The Force can't bring back the dead. You were _not _dead."

She looked at him sadly, looking at him like he was a lost cause. "I have a memory of seeing you cradling my body, whispering to me. I saw you cry, Krych, I saw you there." She looked away again. "And now, I understand so much. It's like I've never seen the world before," her eyes stared at nothing. "Every color is different, every life so vibrant and free." Her eyes closed. "Except when I look at you, Krych. When I look at you I see only death, destruction, and pain." She smiled sadly. "It seems irony still draws breath. I brought you here to save you. But there's no point, is there? You're already dead."

His eyes couldn't stand looking at her, and his ears couldn't take hearing her say those words. And he realized then that he'd deluded himself. He'd imagined they'd find each other when they were ready and there was time. He'd made himself believe that all of the past didn't matter and they'd just be two people in love again. He'd somehow forgotten all about their fight when he'd first arrived and the fact that he'd actually ended the relationship. But now it all came flooding back.

Except this Junn was not the Junn that was begging him to go away with her. He could feel it. She was defensive and she spoke of him like some creature, or a lost love. He felt like crying. He still loved her, but it seemed she was already gone. Like she'd already died back in the fire. "I've changed a lot...the fire, it - "

"The fire didn't burn anything away," she said softly though her words were hard, "it just unveiled what was hiding. When I found out you survived, I mourned you. I've watched you ever since. A ghost, a shell of the man I loved. The man I thought loved me."

His jaw ground against itself. "I did love you - "

"Just not enough to be with me, to listen to me." She was looking at him, but it sounded like some decade old memory she was talking about. "War, battle, death; that's all you really know, isn't it? That's all you're loyal to."

He shook his head. "That's not true."

Her eyes were full of pity. "First thing you did after your injury...you walked right to battle. Glorious dumb battle. Screaming my name. You may have thought of it as an honor, I just felt sick."

His hands started to make fists. "I went to battle, because as soon as that was over, I could come looking for _you_! Then I'd know you'd be safe! That no one could hurt us!" His face burned. "And I did it because I loved you! I fought my way through a thousand enemies to get to you!"

She sat there, looking at him, her face still ruined by that look of resentment, that mournful gaze. "It's too late, Krych."

He stuttered. "The - the army, it needs you."

"I'm not part of that army anymore, Krych," she sighed, "I don't belong there, and I don't belong with you, Krych. I only brought you here to say goodbye."

He searched for words, for reasons, for truth, and could have spent a million years doing so. He knew she wasn't coming back to the army, or to him. "But...you can't just walk away from - "

"You did," she said, daggers in her eyes. "I asked you to come with me. But you signed me off so easily. _You _let go of _me_, Krych. Not the other way around."

He started to cry, the tears stinging his burnt face. "But...I love you. I love you, Junn. I don't want to lose you. We've both come so far. We had plans...we even named our unborn children."

She shook her head lightly. "None of us is gonna survive this. You're already dying, and I'm set for a different path."

He was sobbing now; in all of his grandiose armor and frightning mask, he was finally defeated. For all his powers, his strength, his loyalty, he couldn't make a single difference. It was gone, no more, just a memory that would never be relived. The taste of a kiss he'd taken for granted. "How can we just let go of all we had...like it was just some dream? Tell me that!" he cried hard. "How do you let go of everything you've ever wanted?"

She leaned forward. "If it came true, then it wasn't a dream. If you already had it, it will always be yours. It will always live in memory. That way it never dies." She leaned back and started refitting her Mandalorian armor. "Dreams may fade but only if we allow them. Dreams are just like memories, it doesn't matter if they're fictive or real; it's whats inside them that count. The warmth that comes from a nice memory is still there whether the memory is completely accurate or not."

She stood, all dressed up except for the helmet. Her hand reached out and touched the side of his mask. "For what it's worth; at my highest you were the light on my sky, and in my lowest, you were the voice that led me back home. This didn't come easily, Krych. But it's the best for both of us." She turned and started to walk away.

He rose quickly. "Where are you going?"

She stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "Like I said, I've got a different path."

"Tell me about it. Maybe I can help you."

She shook her head. "You can't. You would get in the way. My path lies with someone else."

Krych didn't understand. "Someone else? Who?"

She turned halfway around and looked at him, a fierceness to her eyes. "I know you don't believe me, and that's your problem; but when the Kjoil brought me back to life some of his energy passed to me. Since then I've been able to use the Force, and I've seen glimpses of the future. I understand now that every second, every minute and every hour of my life, I am standing on the doorstep of the future. I know now that I'm not just a part of this world, but I'm also responsible for its future. I know things I've never even heard about, or thought about. And there's a reason for that."

He felt so useless standing there, in some ways she'd jumped ahead of him by lightyears. "You think you were...destined for this? To shoulder things to come?"

She smiled sweetly. "No more than anyone else. But I have a window, an oppertunity to do great things and I'm going to use it."

He walked towards her. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

She held up her helmet and slid it on. That black visor stared at him, and Junn was gone. "I'm going to stop someone from making a big mistake," the electronic voice said flatly. "And then I'm going to Eknath. I owe him." She started to turn away -

But Krych grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Owe Eknath what, exactly?"

* * *

"Tracker, give me Call's last coordinates!"

He'd never disobeyed an order in his entire life, he'd frowned at them and cursed them, but never outright disobeyed. But considering the events occurring lately and the death of a brother in arms, he figured the others would understand. And besides, there was no one back on Coruscant that was gonna scold him for his actions. He'd already decided to leave the army behind him. The only person that could get close enough to even so much as yell at him was his actions was Salvor.

Stix believed he could beat Salvor.

He ran through Hope's Haven like a gundark on fire, completely cold to the danger he put himself in. Call was a tough guy, one that would fight to the end when it came, and Stix had a feeling his brother wasn't done yet.

Call's coordinates appeared on his HUD and Stix followed them through a straight line from his location to Call's, killing anything that would stand in his path. Not many did, except a few walls, but Stix was carrying enough grenades and explosives to put Regana out of it's own orbit if he wanted to.

At some point he began to scream ferociously as he stampeded through Hope's Haven, crying like a madman, hoping for a dual effect; that it would scare people away from him or that it would quite simply draw them to him.

He came to a junction and decided to spare his last grenade and take the longer route to Call's location, a connecting bridge between two buildings. It meant going outside, but Stix didn't care the slightest bit. He blasted open the doors to the bridge and ran for the outside. The winds outside hadn't slowed down and he had to slow down his pace or the powerful winds would pluck him off the bridge like a toy doll.

He trudged across the bridge, keeping his rifle against his shoulder.

"Stix!" Salvor suddenly shouted inside his helmet. "What do you think you're doing!"

"I'm getting my teammate!" Stix yelled back angrily. "Go to hell, Salvor, I am not leaving him here!"

"You maniac. Stay where you are, I'm done with my bomb. We'll look for him together."

Stix stopped at the center of the bridge. "Hurry up then. Did Tracker rat me out?"

"No," Salvor said with a light chuckle, "it was a lucky guess."

Stix frowned underneath his helmet. "Very funny. Get a move on."

"You just sit tight, I'm almost - " Salvor stopped talking. "Stix! Tracker says there are multiple objects headed your way."

Stix wasn't daunted in the slightest and started padding his rifle, chuckling merrily to himself. "Well, that should keep me warm." Stix admitted bluntly that he wasn't the smartest guy in the group, but even he had his moments. "Wait, you said 'objects'?"

He could hear Salvor's armored feet running on floor. "Tracker says _non-human_. I'm on my way to you now!"

Stix thought about what other options there were inside Hope's Haven. Thinking wasn't exactly his vice, but he soon fell upon the only apparent answer there could be. "Oh," he muttered to himself, "indeed."

The doors ahead of him didn't so much open as they were knocked down. A gray and black swarm of animals crawled out from the breach, moving across the bridge and up the sides of the building they'd just left, becoming a huge living spiderweb of life that swallowed the way he'd hoped to go.

Vhroniks.

Stix's finger fell upon the trigger by a survival instinct of its own and his rifle spat a steady stream of red bolts at the creatures.

"Hold them off!" Salvor shouted on the other end.

Stix could barely keep count of the soldiers rushing through the doorway. "There's too many!"

Salvor chuckled lightly at the other end. "Try to remember you're getting paid to do this!"

Snarling Stix started to back away. "I ain't getting paid enough!"

"Stop whining, keep shooting!"

Stix, remembering Salvor had said something similar to him when they'd been in the underground tunnel, couldn't resist a brief smile. "You sound just like my mother!"

"Smart woman." Salvor signed off.

When the rifle in his trembling hands stopped firing, much to his annoyance, Stix dropped down on one knee and with one hand he supported the rifle against the floor on its butt, while the other hand retrieved a different set of clips. Changing the clips went smoothly, and he fell into a reflexed series of movements as he changed the configuration of the rifle, calibrating it into a sniper rifle setting instead.

Still on one knee he primed the weapon and sighted down its length at the oncoming horde of vhroniks.

"Steady..." he told himself to remind him that he couldn't just depress the trigger like before. The sniper configuration required reloading time, which it made up for in more powerful bursts. Once such shot cleared the head off a stampeeding vhronik, and ripped the tail of the one behind it.

"Let's keep it together and take them apart, Stix," Salvor said in his earpiece, only seconds before the soldier came up beside him on the bridge, rifle spitting red darts and a mean-looking grenade launcher attached to the barrel.

Together they created a wall of blaster-bolts to stop the onslaught of vhroniks from reaching them. The animals seemed to care nothing for their dead breathen, their claws merely tearing their dead to shreds as they crawled over. Bolts seemed to dissapear among the mess of gray fur and drooling jaws. A _growing _mess of fur and jaws no less.

"This isn't working, they just keep coming!" Stix yelled.

Salvor switched to his grenade launcher. "Heads up."

Stix dropped to his belly and Salvor fired at the bridge between them and the approaching vhroniks. The bridge exploded in bright yellow and red flames, groaning like a stumbling giant before the entire section gave in and broke off, cutting them off from the creatures. The vhroniks flooded over the bridge and dropped to the ground below. A few managed to stay ahead from the edge of the bridge and snarled at their unreachable targets.

Stix cleared away his weapon. "Good shot."

Salvor patted the weapon proudly. "Hard to miss with this beauty."

* * *

The wind was howling in his ears even through the helmet, which was supposed to reduce noise. The heavy rifle in his hands was starting to make his arms ache, he'd been carrying it day and night for several days, using stims to keep himself awake and alert. He was starting to feel the side-affects, his vision wasn't what it used to be and every time he sat down, his eyelids tended to shut down on their own.

But despite all of that Jovis was smiling cheerfully. He stood at the edge of the _Masamune'_s loading ramp, and the vast remnants of the Sons of Destiny army was slowly but surely pouring into its main hold. They passed him on both sides, brushing up against him, armor clattering, but he didn't notice any of it. He was too fulfilled to even notice any of it. He just wanted to stand there for a few moments, and stare up at the massive Destroyer, knowing it now belonged to him.

He ignored the conscious fact that the Destroyer would be sacrificed on the surface of Coruscant, commanding a Star Destroyer was an experience reserved for very few in this world. He'd been through a lot of jobs and many missions, but none held the glory of securing a star destroyer for himself.

He turned on his heels and saw a sea of black armored soldiers marching towards him, loyal and competent killers under his charge. A single tear passed down his cheek inside the helmet and he laughed at his own foolishness.

His helmet's comlink clicked on. "Commander Jovis," Eknath's voice was almost purring, "have the _Masamune _moved to Hope's Haven for our pick-up. Send a single shuttle to the landing pad on the control tower. We're taking care of one final matter and then we'll be with you."

Jovis could feel his own back straighten out, pride soaring through his tired body. He brought his rifle up, and allowed his pride to raise itself all the way up his spine. "As you wish."

* * *

The doors to the small hangar finally opened and the former Admiral of the Republic fleet, Gout Saul, came running through. His face was red with exhaustion and fear. He crossed the small ramp to it's railing and stared fulfilled at the small repair vessel docked just down a small flight of stairs. He almost dropped to his knees in happiness, but knew that would be pushing it. If Eknath's plan had worked, the Kjoil apprentice would be looking for him, looking for revenge. He knew it was sheer luck that he'd escaped Rishi so far

He gathered his breath and started to walk towards the stairs leading down to his liberation, his freedom, his peaceful life in retirement.

Unable to take his eyes away from the small aged, but apparently still functionable, repair boat, he took his first step down the stairs.

Something grabbed him by the collar and spun him around. His face impacted with a tattooed fist that knocked him to the floor. His vision exploded in a flutter of stars and panic grabbed tight around his heart.

As the stars slowly faded he saw his attacker, and wasn't the slightest bit surprised. "No! Please don't!" Saul held out his hands, as if he thought he could hold Rishi off that way. "You don''t have to do this! I made a - "

Rishi wore his hood up, a dark menacing shadow with hate-filled eyes. "You set me up," Rishi growled, "led all our soldiers to death and betrayed the Republic."

Saul shook his head franticly. "You don't understand! He used me!"

"I saw your little conversation, Admiral. You were ready for it, you wanted it. And now you get to pay for it." Rishi's right hand became a fist and when he raised it, Saul rose from the floor and hung suspended before him, clutching his throat. The man fought to breathe but his face soon turned blue and his eyes started to roll back.

Rishi's fist tightened. "You...are the very thing wrong with this world. Selfish, egotistical. That's why you were so easily manipulated."

He couldn't help but feel an echo. Raine had said the very same thing to him. Using the memory as a mantra, he managed to quell his anger. He wasn't about to let his rage kill this man. He was better than that. He released his grip and Saul fell to the floor, sucking in all the air he could.

His face slowly regained color and his fearful eyes finally found Rishi.

"Go," Rishi lowered his hand. "There's nothing more for you to destroy here."

Saul wasted no time getting back on his feet, staring confused at Rishi for a few heartbeats. Turning on his heels and scuttling down the few stairs, Saul soon dissapeared beneath the shadows of the shuttle.

Rishi watched in silence as the ship fired up its repulsorlifts, shifting the weight of the air inside the hangar, hovering gently above the floor. He could hear the hull yawn as the ship lowered it's stabilizer fins, and hear the pitch change as the repulsorlifts faded out and the main engines came to life, washing a heatwave over Rishi's clothes and skin.

The hangar doors retreated slowly aside, probably much too slowly for the frightened Saul inside the cockpit, Rishi imagined. He could still feel the man's fear inside of him, like a screaming in his head. The man was still not convinced he was safe.

But as the last sections of the hangar doors vanished inside the walls, Saul's presence became a sigh of relief, a burden lifted from his heart, and inevitably came the thing Rishi had been waiting for. The thing he'd dreaded hearing, but still knew was coming. He dreaded it because he knew it would trigger him.

_I made it_, he heard Saul's thoughts as the shuttle started to clear the hangar, _I made it. I'm safe. _

_I'm out of here. _

_To hell with Eknath._

_To hell with Rishi and his - _

Rishi's hand retrived the lightsaber from inside his cloak in a second, lit the blue blade and sent it flying towards the engine cluster of the shuttle in front of him. The swirling blade caught up with the shuttle just as it was free of the hangar, slicing through the engine cluster, through the generator inside, which caused the first explosion and sent fireballs coursing through the ship.

But the lightsaber was faster than any flooding fire, and was through several internal walls, several sealed doors, before finding Saul and flew right through him and out the viewport. The shuttle exploded in a blindingly pure wall of light, waves of heat filling the hangar and pushing Rishi's slightly back. He didn't bother to cover his eyes, he knew he was safe.

He watched, still in silence but now with a painfilled expression. A wounded regretful gaze as the wreckage of the shuttle crashed into the snow, larger portions rolling like giant balls before finally laying to rest, smoke drifting upon the winds.

His heart was still racing with anger, he was too easily provoked. It came to him slowly that he had zero control of his emotions. He knew his actions were wrong, and that there was no reason that nessicitated the death of Admiral Saul. Being able to use both dark and light powers was not much a comfort, since neither of them possessed an ability to squash guilt.

It was his youth that acted, not his intellect. It was the unchanneled anger of a young man that had many questions that no one could answer, and a world around him that didn't make sense. Being able to take a life at his own discretion gave him a sense of control.

He shook it off.

There were no answers to be found staring at a crash site, no peace found among burning debris. He had to find Kal and they had to stop the terrorists before they had a chance to escape Regana. He called the lightsaber back to his hand and a feeling inside told him that as soon as the terrorists were off the planet it would be too late to stop them from getting to Coruscant.

He turned towards the exit, only to find it blocked. Rishi stood calm, refusing to let his surprise show. But how this man had come up behind him without the Force alerting him was even more of a surprise. A tall thin humanoid with ashy skin and strange markings across his face, dressed in a black cloak with the hood up, obstructed his only way out of the hangar.

Rishi reached out to him and found no attempt to block his probe. However the man revealed only darkness within the Force, great darkness even. Rishi felt cold and death, and strangely enough no anger. Not even sorrow or hatred. The man was exhibiting respect and awe, even a hint of jealousy.

The man's hands collected at his belly and his eyes seemed to glow red. "Questions...they are the enemy of inner peace. And our only weapon against them is our ability to adapt, our ability to change along with time."

Rishi spread his feet slightly apart, finding the man's voice familiar. "I know you."

The man smiled warmly. "Yes, we've spoken briefly before."

The tone of the voice was different this time around, kind even, but it couldn't disguise his first encounter with its owner. "The boy...Tragedy...you were his Master. You're the one who warped Admiral Saul. You're the one who told me where to find Master Skar's body."

The man nodded shortly. "Correct."

"Why?"

"Merely helping a fellow seeker, someone who thinks as I once did, someone searching for the truth. Someone who still hasn't learned to disregard questions, someone who needs to learn how to adapt."

"The truth?"

The man took a slow step forward. "The truth...the truth behind everything that has transpired here. I was hoping I could bring you answers."

Rishi's hand lingered around the hilt underneath his cloak. "I don't even know the questions," he remembered a name from the hologram he'd seen, "Eknath."

Those black lips formed a smile. "Yes, that is my name. And yes, I am currently the one in command of the Sons of Destiny, which makes me your enemy."

Rishi's fingers tightened around the lightsaber. "You don't say."

Eknath's head tilted, a curious look in his eyes. "But in coming here I not only sought to bring you answers, I was also seeking answers for myself."

Rishi snorted. "What about 'adapting'?"

"Adapting can only accur when one has explored every angle, every facet and fact of the whole," Eknath explained. "When all the pieces are collected we can begin to assemble the puzzle. Your Master is dead, yet there is still a disturbance in the Force. He caused many tremors in the Force which have been radified, but there remains an...an unsettlement. The Force has still not reached full balance, there is still no visible future. Something is still effecting it, and now that I stand before you, I know you are not the cause."

Rishi's finger rubbed back and forth on the lightsaber's ignition switch. "Sorry to dissapoint you."

Surprisingly, Eknath started to chuckle, a sound truly menacing that seemed to feed off the hangar's own acoustic. "Oh, my dear Rishi, your coming here is anything but a dissapointment."

A warning in the back of Rishi's mind told him to act and he flung out his lightsaber and managed to get the blade activated, casting a blue sheen upon the space around them. But before he could even advance on Eknath, the lightsaber wrestled itself from his fingers and flew into Eknath's grasp.

Eknath released no grin or even a smile of satisfaction at disarming him. Instead he moved the lightsaber around in his hands, studying it intricately. "This isn't yours." His brows lifted. "Indeed, you traded with the other Jedi."

Rishi felt vulnurable, but knew he was at a loss.

"Do you...care for him, Rishi?"

Exhaling, Rishi managed a nod. "He's a friend."

Eknath's hand released sparks of electricity and the lightsaber shattered in his hands, the pieces dropping onto the floor from his palm. "Now we are equals. I have no weapon, you have no weapon. As long as I am here, being your enemy, the Sons of Destiny cannot complete their mission."

Rishi wasn't sure what Eknath meant by stating the obvious. "Yeah, so?"

"So instead of doing the predictable, which would be fighting, let's do something very different."

Rishi didn't like where this was heading.

Eknath raised his hand and the doors behind him swooshed open. "Let's talk."


	5. A Change Of Paths

Kal and Kast were at the lowest level of the southern structure, a powerless room with several dead consoles. Kal was watcing interestingly at Kast's handiwork as the soldier set the charge against the farthest wall, priming the explosives. With this one last device all their bombs were set and all they had to do was clear the facility. That part concerned Kal because there were no ships left and their only real option was to make a run for the snowy plains outside. The soldiers had mentioned a cave in a mountain a few miles away where they'd set up camp before breaching the station.

But what then? Would anyone come to get them? Was this really just a last mission that would sacrifice their lives at the hope of defeating their enemies? Kal hoped not, and he also hoped they would have Rishi back soon. Rishi always had solutions and ways, while Kal was easier to start doubting.

His leg was still pained, and he was starting to wear thin from his constant draw on the Force. He couldn't keep dulling the pain for long and if they weren't extracted soon, he would lose the leg.

"Kast, report," his comlink demanded. It was Salvor and he didn't sound pleased.

Kal brought the gauntlet comlink to his mouth. "Almost there, Salvor...I think." He didn't know anything about setting explosives.

"Sir, your bomb is the last one. We're all set to leave this dump."

Kal straightened up. "That sounds really good."

"And I think we've just been offered a ride out of here. We intercepted a signal. The enemy is moving the _Masamune _closer to the facility. Our best bet would be to stow away onboard."

Kal knew he should have felt good about getting off the planet, but being onboard an enemy ship wasn't exactly the way he'd pictured his rescue. "There's no other way?"

Salvor didn't respond right away. "What are you talking about, sir?"

Kal shook his head. "Nothing. Where should we link up?"

"There's a central cargo lift in the main building, it runs all the way to the roof. I suspect they'll be dropping shuttles to pick up the last stragglers. We hide on one of the shuttles and follow them to wherever they're going."

Kal's heart felt hollow. "We know where they're going. Coruscant."

Salvor grinned enthustiastic. "Not with us onboard. There are many ways to sabotage a destroyer. They'll never get near the Core, I assure you, sir."

Kal looked over at Kast's back, the soldier still working with the explosives. "Did you find Admiral Saul?"

"Negative, sir. We ran into vhroniks on our way there. We had to blow the bridge to stay alive. Northern structure seems to be crawling with those things. With any luck its the only building they've infested."

Kal smiled unassuredly. "Luck, commander, hasn't exactly been watching our backs lately."

"Received, sir," was all Salvor could manage as a reply. "We did, however, see an explosion not too long ago. It...did look like one of the repair boats."

In that moment he could feel the Dark Side starting to cloud the edges of the Force. In a disturbing premonition Kal finally found Rishi's presence within the facility. But it came too easily compared to before. Almost as if someone now wanted him to find him.

"Rishi's in the main building."

"Sir, with all due respect, if we start looking for him now, we're going to miss our ride. If he's half as good as they say, he can take care of himself. He'll have to."

Rishi's ability to handle himself wasn't the problem. Kal turned to Kast. "Kast, we have to leave now!"

Kast glanced over his shoulder. "I need a few more minutes. I'm not trained for this."

Rishi disconnected his comlink. "I've found Rishi!"

"Well, good. Jedi are patient beings, I'm sure he'll wait for me."

Kal damned his wounded leg. His every instinct screamed to run for Rishi. to help him. "You don't understand! He's not alone!"

* * *

Side by side, the Kjoil apprentice and the telepath Eknath walked through a series of hallways, traveling at a relaxed pace. Both of them had their hands in opposite sleeves, their hoods barely obscuring their faces. Rishi kept his awareness attached to Eknath like the leash on a dangerous pet, wary of his close proximity and unsure of the man's intent.

If the man purely wanted to debate matters of philosophy and faith Rishi would lend his ear, giving him at least that, since he knew this man was the enemy, and this man had to be destroyed.

And even though he was lacking one lightsaber, Rishi felt sure he could manifest a means of killing the man.

Eknath mused. "The Kjoil were given the gift of shaping destiny, of breaking the will of the Force. It amuses me to some extent to know this, because how are we to imagine anything else than the Force itself also created the Kjoil?"

The halls around them were bland and stale, somehow untouched by the combat that had raged across the facility, still maintaining some cleanness. The floor itself was a black reflective surface, mirroring the bright lights over their heads. "How indeed?" Rishi said with little genuine interest in his voice.

Eknath smiled beneath his cowl. "The Force gave birth and life to the Kjoil, and now we are to believe it made a _mistake_? No, no, dear boy. You are more than a man, you are the hand of fate, the last of your kind."

"There are others," Rishi objected. "The Kjoil refugees - "

"Untrained, yes," Eknath interrupted him. "But with time they too will grow like you, through _your _teachings."

Rishi felt lesser for some reason, dreading the task that had befallen him since his Master's death. "I'm not fit to train anyone," he admitted, "no more than Master Skar was fit to train me. Real Kjoil teachings are gone, and I am not..." he searched for the right word, "the right one to train them."

"But you will be," Eknath moved his head to look at him. "I can help you."

Rishi snorted. "Who said I wanted your help?"

Eknath's hood moved away again, a small frown on his lips. "No one at all, dear boy, but in the future I see, the future you believe is merely a dream, you have no one but me to turn to. You need me as much as I need you."

Rishi sensed the man's attempt at voice-manipulation and managed to subdue its effect, he could feel the man's feelings surrounding him, veiling him inside the darkness. A darkness he found strangely comforting nevertheless. There was resolution and answers in anger and hate, and a blissful release from confusion.

"You're a madman."

"Why?" Eknath's voice was hurt. "Because I've killed? Your Master killed more in a day than I have in my entire lifetime. I despise fighting, which is why I turned to the subtler weapons the Force grants. Warping a mind may seem evil to you, but it preserves life. And life is in essence the very thing that keeps us in power."

Rishi shook his head. "But you're still killing."

"We are more than ordinary men, Rishi," Eknath said loud and proud, "we were given these powers for a reason, we were destined for greatness."

"But with power comes responsibility," Rishi said firmly. He surprised himself, his thoughts were flowing clearer than ever for some reason.

Eknath nodded. "And we can search all our lives for answers that do not exist, searching for an honorable and noble responsibility. You are young, Rishi, and your search is still in its infancy. I am older, I'm afraid, but I've found my purpose, my responsibility to this world. In you."

Rishi's skin crawled. The man's second exclamation of them having some shared destiny made him stop in his tracks and brought all his guards up. "You're out of your mind if you think I'll help you."

Eknath stood a few steps away, back turned to him. He heard a sigh. "I only assisted them as long as it brought me closer to my own destination. As you may have noticed, none of the others trust me." Eknath turned around and faced him, a grim seriousness in his eyes. "I could care less, they are only a waypoint for my destiny. But now...now that I've found you, I can begin the real journey."

Rishi stood firm, shaking his head. There was no way this man's twisted fantasies was going to include him. "Sorry, Eknath. I am not going to be your apprentice."

Eknath's red eyes intensified for a second, a brief hint of anger. Obviously he wasn't used to being shot down. "Hmm, interesting. I honestly did not believe it would be this difficult for you to understand. Perhaps you are guarding yourself too well, because you still assume I am your enemy." Eknath closed his eyes. "But very well, if I cannot appeal to your intellectual side, I will have a go at your animal side."

Before him, Eknath seemed to grow. The edges of his cloak appeared to blend with the air around him, becoming an indistinct black presence with only a pair of frightful red eyes at their center. Rishi stepped back, but it was too late. Eknath was already everywhere around him, swallowing him inside his dark presence. Rishi could sense the man barging through his guards, through his mental defenses. It wasn't even a struggle; soon Rishi was on his knees, his head between his hands.

Eknath was there, in his mind, as if he always had been. Rishi wondered then if Eknath was the voice that had spoken to his mind, or if he is the one the voice said it would send.

"I see..." Eknath's voice loomed inside of his mind. "He hid it from you."

"Hid what?" Rishi managed to say, his own voice echoing inside of Eknath's dark shadows, repeating infinitely.

"The location of the Kjoil refugees. I suspected as much."

Rishi could feel Eknath's voice like a splinter in his brain, a stabbing clarity that left all he had and all he was right in Eknath's control. "What are you talking about!"

Eknath chuckled. "You don't know? Didn't he ever tell you that he messed with your brain? You've been to the planet where the Kjoil refugees are located, but somehow you don't remember it."

Rishi wanted to laugh at him, but the words provoked his mind to work on its own. He could remember faces of the refugees, the world around them, he remembered saying goodbye to them. But when he tried to remember the name of the planet, there was nothing. Whenever he tried to remember where it was, there was only a hollow space in his head. How could he have missed this for so long? Was it true? Had Master Skar toyed with his brain? Didn't he trust him?

Rishi faltered. "No! You're wrong!"

"Don't be foolish!" Eknath shouted. You lived with them before he moved them! You were with him when he moved them, and yet you _don't _remember!" Eknath's veils retreated into his cloak and Rishi was free of his control. "Don't you find that disturbing?"

Rishi stayed on his knees, letting the dizziness around his mind fade. "I'm sure he had good reasons."

Eknath walked over slowly to stand right in front of Rishi, bending down on one knee, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "And I'm sure he's still alive."

Rishi's head came up fast, staring into the odd markings covering Eknath's face. "What? How?"

Eknath smiled warmly. "There's still a tremor in the Force. The others believe the equilibrium is fulfilled, but I know better. I've sensed the Force the way it was before the Kjoil ever appeared. I can sense a difference. And as I said before, you are not the reason. None of the Kjoil refugees are powerful enough to cause this. Which means..."

Rishi fought to think straight. "He's still alive...or there's another Kjoil."

"Impossible," Eknath said without a hint of doubt. "I would have sensed that as well. Something has been resolved, neither Skind or Kayupa's spirit has appeared since then. But _he _is alive..." Eknath's eyes looked around them, scanning the distant edges of the Force. "Somewhere...somehow."

Rishi's senses reached out for his Master, but he couldn't find anything. Not even a trace. Nothing where he'd once found his old Master. Was Eknath lying? But what if he wasn't? What if Eknath held the only clues to finding his Master? He didn't like having to listen or help the man, but if it could bring him back his Master, maybe it was worth a sacrifice of some sort. Master Skar was essential to the future of the Kjoil. However lacking his training techniques might be, he was still the most able to instruct them. Maybe they could find out how to best train their race.

Eknath stood and continued to journey through the hallways.

Rishi got up fast and ran to catch up with him. "Why are you telling me this?"

Eknath's tone of voice was somber, quiet and thoughtful. "I am part of the Sons of Destiny, that much is true. But as I said before they are only a gateway for me to reach my own fate, my own purpose. During my time with them I shifted, I became a warrior, although the finesse of killing a man with a weapon has never appealed to me. I've stuck to more interesting ways, breaking the will of those who opposed me by the sheer of my mind."

Rishi found himself for the first time listening carefully to the man's every word, for strange reasons. He felt the man held answers and tools he couldn't find elsewhere. "A powerful talent," Rishi said.

Eknath nodded to himself. "But I remain a warrior, just an unorthodox one. I am a warrior because I fight for something I believe in. I put myself in peril to acheive something that I have faith in, I sacrifice and I give my life to this purpose."

Eknath went through a set of heavy doors, coming inside another dusty hangar, one closely connected to a large storage room. Cranes and heavy lifters were parked against the far wall, and a central cargo lift at the center of the hangar was empty. Eknath seemed to be walking straight for it.

"But you, Rishi, you have not yet found something you'd give your life for. Perhaps you are too young for such thoughts to spawn in your young mind, but given your race and heritage they are inevitable. You are meant for greater things, destined for wonders. You will be a bright star among the others who satisfy themselves in a life of indulgence and ever puzzlement. You are fated to influence the destiny of others, yet you still linger in a world unsuited for you." Eknath reached the lift and stepped onboard. "A place where your talents and graces can never flower."

Rishi stepped onto the lift as well, keeping himself on the opposite side, leaning his back against the railing. "What do you care?"

Eknath activated the lift's controls and the lift rose off the floor with a mechanical groan. The ceiling opened into a wide tunnel, a large rectanglular shaft that reached up forever. Rishi believed the powerful lift was used for lifting cargo from the storages to the top of the main building, where it would be transported by small shuttles. The lift cleared the hangar and continued on a slow but steady speed up through the center of the building.

Eknath crossed his arms. "I'm not here to tell you what you are. I'm here to tell you what you could become. I can give you what you've always sought, what you've been denied. The means to change this Galaxy into whatever vision you have. To strike down those who do nothing, to bring an end to the corruption infesting the New Republic. To kill the Sons of Destiny, to rebuild this Galaxy in whatever ideal you see fit."

Rishi laughed in defiance. "_You_?"

The man nodded. "I am not what I seem to be, but you know what I can offer you."

Rishi raised an eyebrow. "And ask nothing in return?"

The man sniggered. "Of course I want something in return, the same thing you do. To see the Sons of Destiny dead for the sickness they've inflicted. To see the Republic wiped from the memories of this Galaxy, to clean up this Galaxy once and for all," Eknath's red eyes glowed brightly. "I want to be there with you, Rishi. I want to be by your side as your Kjoil warriors march across every infection."

Rishi's mind produced images inside of his head, glorious brilliant images of an unseen future. But perhaps a concievable future.

"I am an old man, my boy," Eknath's voice was weary, "I may not live to see it all. But I want to die knowing I've made a difference in this world. I want only to be the spark, and you my flame."

Rishi shuddered at the thought, but not because of the many deaths this endevear would demand. But because he knew it could be done. He knew it _should _be done.

"And if I say no?"

"Use me, if you must, as I used the Sons. Use me as a gateway to fulfill your ideal, but do not let your great power go to the waste." The man's lips quivered. "If you don't, then this Galaxy will fall at the hands of the coming invasion."

"Invasion?"

Eknath nodded, his eyes weak and painful. "I'm not surprised your Master never mentioned it to you. An army of warriors from beyond the borders of this Galaxy is coming, coming to take it for their own dark desires. And they will win. The Jedi cannot stop this alien threat, they are too untrained, too lacking in perspective because of Skywalker's poor schooling. His academy is a great accomplishment, I give him that, and he's managed to asmass far more potential Jedi than I would have expected. But he does not _see_, Rishi," the man turned away, "he does not see the _true _way of the Force, he does not see that he is merely a shadow, a shadow cast by the burning flames of the Kjoil."

Eknath leaned against the railing, a cold shiver running down his form. "The Jedi are too weak, too narrow-minded to counter this threat. You've met Jedi Master Raine; he was the brightest they ever reached, and even he is a fool, a mindless drone. And the Republic will forever be latent in their attempts to combat the invasion. A new breed must step up, a better way, the true hands of fate."

Rishi could feel himself grow at the mere thought. He could do it. He'd always wanted to do it, in the dark corners of his mind, he'd always toyed with the idea of what truly needed to be done to save the Galaxy. But like so many other things, he never thought the responsibility itself would fall upon him.

"But...I'm not fully trained. And I've never learned more than Jedi techniques. I don't know how to train anyone to be the kind of army you suggest."

Eknath smiled reassuringly. "It is in you, the drive, the seed. The will to learn, the obsession for power. A power you can have, if only you would let yourself reach for it. Stop limiting yourself, stop restraining the fire inside of you. And there's nothing you cannot do. You were made to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and drive off those who follow the ways of evil." Eknath started to approached him, looking him over. "Kjoil do not need to call upon the Force, or to learn it's methods. It's in your veins, in your..._tattoos_. It is there, you just have to know where to look."

Rishi kept his face down, feeling a grand future paint itself before him, somewhere beyond the walls speeding by around him. A future that held him up on a piedestal as the savior of the Galaxy. "I'm afraid to look. I know what happened to the others. Skind went insane, he did more harm than good. Kayupa went suicidal...and..."

Eknath stood close enough to touch him. "Your Master?"

Rishi's lips moved but no real words came out. He stopped talking and tried franticly to find the questions he couldn't answer. "He - what happened to him? What really happened here?"

The walls of the tunnel shaft around them seemed to slow, approaching it's destination. "He found his potentail, he dived headfirst into it, he ripped this station apart like it was a plaything. You've seen the destruction, he took on an army of thousands of highly trained soldiers and won. Within a handful of minutes, he killed everyone and everything that stood in his path. He began to understand that the Force was not a mere asset. He became a living sword of the Force, it's very will incarnate."

That was one point of view, Rishi guessed. He wished he'd been there to see it. More than anything he wished he could talk with his Master just one last time.

"Why did he die then?"

Before Eknath could answer, the lifted reached the ceiling of the building and instantly the wind tugged at their cloaks, snapping them like whips around them. Rishi looked up the heaven and saw a thick dark cloud eclipsing all sunlight from illuminating him. The cloud looked strange though, a little more gray that what he'd seen before. As a perfect arrowhead pattern of giant light fixtures came alive above him, Rishi realised what he was looking at.

The _Masamune_.

The Star Destroyer hovered directly above Hope's Haven, its powerful engines drowning out the roaring winds. Rishi felt dwarfed beneath its gigantic mass, and became instantly frightful. They were ready to leave. They were ready to go. Rishi reached out with his mind, expanding his awareness beyond the confines of the facility, touching the Destroyer, searching with his mind's eye. There were several thousand living beings onboard, but none of them rang familiar; no Kal. But he also discerned that Eknath was the only one of the enemy not onboard. If he was going to do anything, he had to do it now.

Rishi turned his attention back to Eknath -

A man dressed in magnificent battle garments and a strange eerie white droid-like mask on his face stood far behind Eknath, his scary mask looking at them. Rishi felt like he'd been set up, until he sensed the dread coming from Eknath. As Eknath started to walk backwards, leaving a clear path between the man and Rishi, Rishi understood this man was not one of his allies.

"Well, there's your answer," Eknath said as he backed away. "This man tricked him, let him into a trap. He stood in the way of destiny."

Rishi and the stranger stared at each other for several heartbeats before the tension was broken as the man started approaching the lift Rishi was standing on. The man settled into a stand at equal distance to Eknath and Rishi, crossing his armored arms.

Rishi remained where he was and concentrated all his awareness on the stranger. "Who are you?"

The mask showed no emotion. "I am Loyalty."

Rishi sneered. "More codenames."

The man chuckled, a menacing mechanical sound escaping that cold mask. The mask tilted slightly and his right hand grasped the edges of his mask and pulled it off with one quick tight move. Rishi could never have anticipated what awaited him beneath that metallic doll face. A face deeply scarred and burnt, a mangled mess of burn wounds and dead skin. Only two bloodied eyes revealed that there was anything still alive beneath the blackened horrible death's head.

The mouth moved without lips. "I had the pleasure of meeting your Master once, boy. You see, he did this to me."

Rishi didn't know what to say, or to say anything. He was too horrified to think of anything appropriate. How could the man still be alive? The man's aura in the Force was burning fiercely with rage, a pain that seemed to keep the man still breathing though his face had long since perished.

The man's face trembled with anger, becoming truly horrifying, as he looked upon Eknath. "You stole her from me, Eknath! She didn't belong to you!" The man's lightsaber lit up, a brilliant verdent blade aimed at the telepath. "You took her from me, you demented bastard!"

"Poor Krych," Eknath seemed to disregard the faceless warrior. "Now you are here to reforge the path," Eknath said facing Rishi, ignoring the masked Krych, "to finish the destiny your Master was betrayed. That is fate, Rishi. It is your heritage, your birthright."

Eknath's words drifted through him without finding berth. Rishi's eyes centered on the lightsaber in the man's hand, a very familiar lightsaber. All reason inside Rishi drowned out in anger. That lightsaber didn't belong in that hand, and if there was one thing Rishi would acheive before he died, it was to obtain it. The only thing that existed in his mind was taking back his Master's lightsaber, and kill the man responsible for his death.

Rishi reached out and pried the lightsaber easily from the man's hand using the Force. The lightsaber landed gently in Rishi's hand and he instantly swirled it into an attack-stance. He'd held Master Skar's lightsaber once or twice in his lifetime, but now as he held it he could sense of all his Master again, feel all his strength and power pour into him. His Master's aura surrounded him.

Cloak billowing behind him, Rishi took his first steps toward this Krych while Krych calmly produced another lightsaber from his armor. The vermilion lightsaber snapped to life in Krych's hand, humming menacingly.

Eknath began to cackle with excitement. "Yes, do it! Kill him! Take your revenge, honor your Master! Take your first step onto the true path of the Force! Finish the road that your Master began!"

Krych leveled his blade, his insane eyes fixed on Rishi. "I've walked too far already. I am ready to end it here...one way or another."

Rishi stopped four feet from Krych, giving the man a feral grin. The Kjoil cracked his neck loudly, spreading his feet apart. "It will end _only _one way."

* * *

Kast and Kal reached the storage room where Salvor had informed the heavy cargo lift would be, which would take them to the roof of the structure and extraction. Kal leaned on Kast while the commando supported him through the room and helped Kal sit down by the absent cargo lift. Kast immediately punched the switch for the lift's return and hunched down next to Kal.

"Should be on the way down," Kast said, checking his rifle again. "We're almost out of here." There was a sense of panic in his voice, but it was also part excitement. Kast displayed an urgency that could only stem from a man who wasn't unhappy leaving his current setting.

Kal couldn't help smile. "Sure are."

Kast moved his head as if he was listening for something, muffled voices reaching outside of his helmet. "Stix and Salvor are imbound."

Kal nodded, glad to hear it.

But true to events in the past, success wouldn't come without effort. A loud boom exploded against the doors they'd come through, and the doors bent inward for a fraction of a second before detaching from their rails and flying through the room on a flood of fire. Kast threw himself onto Kal as the heavy doors sailed over their heads like giant swords thrown.

The doors stabbed into the walls behind the cargo lift and the open doorway erupted with sounds of blasterfire. Stix and Salvor walked backwards through the entry, their rifles screaming. Kast rolled away from Kal and got up, running to back up his comrades. Kast's rifle had waited a long time for proper use and now it was working overtime.

The three commandos established a wall of defense against the enemy apparently coming at them down the hallway. What surprised Kal was that there was no return fire, no enemy firing back at them. But as he spread his awarenss down the hall, he realized the enemy was more lethal than any gun-carrying soldier.

A seemingly endless swarm of vhroniks were stampeeding down the hallway, jumping over their fallen, crawling across the walls, like a gaping black hole slowly swallowing all of Hope's Haven.

Kal pushed himself up, knowing his involvement went hand in hand with his own survival. But since his legs wouldn't offer him the luxury of fighting on his feet, he had to trust in the extended reach of the Force itself. If those creatures punched through the entry way and got inside the storage facility, it would be over in a second. Their only hope was to kill them inside the confined space of the corridor.

Kal spread his fingers apart and the Force flowed through his hand; an invisible barrier slammed down dead center of the hallway between the vhroniks and the commandos. An impenatrable wall for the creatures to crash and thrash against, snarling at their inability to breach while the soldiers filled their ashy-gray bodies with blasterbolts.

For the moment it seemed to work, even though the flood of vhroniks kept steady and the soldiers were dangerously close to running out of ammo. Although he was already weakened and not fully trained in using the Force over long exspanses of time, Kal realized that improving came mostly out of nessicity.

He reshaped his barrier, clutching his hand and fingers together. The walls of the corridor slowly started to bulge inwards, as though the center of the hall was suddenly depressurized. The walls moved inwards towards a common center, closing the gap that the vhroniks were marching through. Blaster bolts still rained upon the mass of screaming vhroniks, filling the hallway with a wall of its own, a wall made from smocking corpses. Slowly the corridor closed completely and the firing died out.

The three commandos dropped down on one knee, rechecking their weapons and reloading them with what they had. The three of them looked at each other with a pleasure-filled grin and a few pats on the shoulders were exchanged.

"Seem whenever I leave you guys alone," Kast said through breaths of exhaustion, "you run into trouble."

"That's because you're the scout," Stix replied. "Without you we just run straight into trouble."

Salvor chuckled and was the first to stand. "Laugh it up, guys. We're not out of this yet."

Kal sat back down, tending to his leg. "Nice to see you guys again. I bet Kast is happy to have someone help carrying me around too."

Kast looked at Kal over his shoulder and grinned. "Yeah, he doesn't look like much, but his philosophy speeches are quiet heavy."

Stix got up and pulled Kast to a stand as well. "Thanks for the help back there, sir."

Kal looked up into the cargo lift tunnel, seeing the light above fade more and more as the lift was descending. "You're welcome. Get me out of here alive, and we'll call it even. And don't call me 'sir'."

Kast shouldered his rifle. "Heard anything from Tracker?"

Salvor nodded. "He's topside. Seems the _Masamune _is stationed above the facility and he's trying to get inside."

Kast smiled, impressed by their little flying droid. "He will be a great help once we get onboard."

"Fallen for him?" Stix asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kast responded by letting his thumb disengage the safety on his rifle with a loud click.

Stix held up his hands. "Hey, to each his own."

The sound of the lift grew louder and Kal pushed himself up as it came into sight. But even before he could see the surface of it he could feel something coming down with it. The lift cleared the rim of the tunnel and Kal was surprised to see it empty.

But as the lift touched floor a ball of brown came flying down the tunnel above it, landing perfectly on the lift. A green lightsaber came to life in Master Raine's hand in an instant and it flew through the air, stabbing into Stix's chest and remained there. Raine lifted the dead soldier off the floor with the Force and slammed it out to the side, knocking Salvor flat on the floor.

"Wait! Stop!" Kal shouted, bringing his own lightsaber out.

But Master Raine wouldn't stop. Kast almost had his rifle up and ready, but Raine pushed him back through the room, sending him twirling against the far wall. The soldier cried out in pain as he tumbled onto the floor.

"Wait!" Kal cried again, stepping in between Raine and the commandos. "You don't have to do this!"

Raine looked upon him with empty, tear-filled eyes. "Actually," the lightsaber flew from Stix's chest and back into the Jedi Master's hand, "I do."

"No," Kal implored, "you're a Jedi Master! You can't kill them! Stop it!"

Raine moved his lightsaber into a guard position. "Dark and light are no longer of consequence, young Jedi. There is only the Force."

Kal couldn't believe what was happening. "You're starting a war!"

Raine's face crunched up. "No, I'm trying to stop one!"

Salvor came out from under Stix's dead body and rolled to a clear position, his rifle ready to fire. But Raine's years of mastering the Force ridiculed the very idea that Salvor thought he had a shot at him. The Jedi Master simply pulled the rifle from Salvor's hands and tossed it casually aside, and finished off the lead commando with a twitch of his hand, breaking the soldier's neck from across the room. Salvor fell down with a loud bang of armor against the floor.

Kal felt the soldier's death suck all the air out of him, sadness plunging through his tearducts. "No! Please stop!"

"You don't know the truth," Raine muttered, his voice touched by the inevitability of his own actions, "this has to happen."

At the back of the room Kast got himself up and standing, his eyes briefly crossing the dead bodies of his team mates. The sadness filled him instantly and anger flooded to his surface in a second. Kast's rifle came up.

"No!" Kal continued to scream.

Raine moved his hand but Kast remained standing. The rifle in his hands however broke onto itself, shattering to pieces. Kast stared disbelievingly at the pieces of a weapon falling from his hands.

"He will live," Raine said clearly.

The moment of confusion stole away Kal's potential for controlling the situation. Raine grabbed him using the Force and lifted him off the floor. Kal lost consciousness instantly and with a quick last nod to Kast, Raine jumped up into the lift's tunnel above him, leaping from side to side inside of it, towing a lifeless Kal on a cushion of the Force.

Kast ran to the lift and looked up, watching Raine and Kal dissapear far above him. He cursed aloud, bringing all his anger front and center. But he had little time to contemplate his next move as someone else had already made the decision for him.

The hallway that had been shut tight by Kal's use of the Force was slowly buckling. The heavy stream of vhroniks on the opposite side had managed to gather enough mass for limbs to reach through, steadily expanding the gap and finally allowing one vhronik at a time to crawl through.

Kast saw Stix's rifle and dove for it, letting it instantly rip across the floor. The heavy pounding of the rifle in his hands blocked his awareness from the dead bodies around him. Ignoring his targets his eyes were on the floor, his free hand searching the bodies at his feet for weapons.

He chose a small rapid-fire blaster from Stix's belt, and strapped it into his belt for later and picked up Salvor's rifle by the strap and slung it over his shoulder, also for later.

Feeling sufficiently armed he started to walk sideways, his rifle still laying down a wide fan of bolts. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a set of doors behind him.

When the rifle ran out of shots, he swung around himself in a full revolution, shouldering the empty rifle in midturn and also pulling out the small rapid-fire blaster with the other hand. With only a second of silence between the firing of the two different weapons, he continued to back away towards the corridor that might just save his life.

Approaching the doors they slid apart down their center and revealed another corridor beyond. The storage room in front of him was a wreck of dead bodies, charred walls and floor, a cloud of smoke with a handful of vhroniks dodging back and forth, gaining ground on him.

Once he made it through the doors he blasted the controls, which instantly sealed the doors tight before him. The silence that followed was almost scary, his ears still rattled and hummed from the inferno of noise his guns had produced. His hands and fingers were shaking, the gun in his hand almost too hot to hold.

But he'd made it and that fact inspired a brief smile and a playful twirl of the gun on his triggerfinger before holstering it.

* * *

Beneath the looming shadow of the _Masamune_, the two warriors circled each other, fighting at a furious speed. The wind and snow added their effects to the duel, dampening their vision and pulling at their limbs and clothes. Rishi fought with all the anger and rage that one might have thought Krych would have been able to compete with.

But strangely enough, Krych was the passive one, a relaxed methodical focus to his fighthing, while Rishi was a storm in himself, possessed by a violent hungry anger that would only be fed by cutting Krych to pieces. Krych was fighting with all the majesty of a Jedi of old, cold precise movements that twarted even the best of Rishi's ruthless assaults. But Krych's careful precise movements did not stem from a cunning tactic, or an attempt to outdo Rishi by sheer technique.

It came from a broken heart.

Beneath his armor, beneath his burnt skin, Krych's soul was giving itself away. He had no wish to kill this young Kjoil apprentice, and the world around him, devoid of Junn, held no value to him anymore. It was a painful dark world, a cold lonely world that already had taken so much from him. Or...he had lost. It was true what Junn had said, he had been the one to leave her, he had been the first one to break away from their relationship.

He'd been different back then, he'd a warrior of the Sons of Destiny, he'd given his life to that service. He'd believed back then that he could keep himself unattached, that his life was nothing but a sword for the Sons of Destiny to wield. He'd found a family in them, replacing the family that had abandoned him in his youth. He'd given his loyalty in thanks.

But now, with all the glory of a sinking stone, he was fast falling towards death. Only now he could see how her smile had put the air in him, how he'd marveled at her strength through every one of their wars, how he'd never really known who she was. There was so much more in her than he had ever seen.

While fighting the Kjoil apprentice, he was detached from the two blades crashing against one another. His charred lips moved in silent whispers of all the things he wished for her. He hoped Koll and Sasa would forgive him, he hoped Junn would have everything he couldn't give her, everything he'd taken away from her.

He knew now that all of his strength, all of his willpower and loyalty, didn't stem from the Dark Side or the Force. It came from her love, her devotion, her warmth. He saw then all that he never could, that she was the walls of all he could do. The very lens through which he shone.

And it was just too late to have it back. He was changed, doomed, spiralling ever faster towards certain death. His body was dying along with his heart, his soul withering away inside the ashes of who he'd never known he was. All his dreams would be left unfulfilled, all those blurry images of him and her and how the world would be their prey. All of it would never see light, because even with all his powers he could not save himself and he could not save his dreams.

Out of the corners of his eyes he saw Eknath watching him fight the Kjoil, glowing with excitement and pleasure as the snow fell around him, his red eyes shining within the hood of his cloak.

* * *

The sound of the green and red lightsaber clashing brought up a hunger in him unlike any he'd felt before. His teeth ground against themselves, aching to see Krych defeated. To see that faceless monster finally slain, to rid himself of one more bothersome obstacle to his design.

Rishi was fighting furiously, the young boy displaying far more anger than he would thought was in him. The Kjoil were a passionate bunch, indeed, full of misplaced easily provoked anger. Truly he was far stronger than any Joon, Krych or even a Raine.

Truly he would be -

_Your downfall_, a voice stabbed into his brain.

Eknath's defenses fell in an instant, horrified that someone was watching his mind for a change. He looked around the edges of his perception looking for this stranger that was monitoring him, but saw no one near and quickly sent his own mind down the only trace of the voice he had. He found the source and was dissapointed that it wasn't hidden. That the person hadn't bothered to disguise herself.

Her reaching out to him certainly amused him. _Ahh, the woman has finally come out of hiding. What is that you say, Junn? Shouldn't you be here at Krych's side? Seems he could definetly need you._

Her response was solid as a lightsaber's blade. _You're all I have now._

Eknath's smug smile started to dissipate. _So you know, then._

_I know, Eknath. And I will be coming for you. Time and space is all that lies between us, Eknath._

He tried hard, but the threat in her voice made his confidence slightly fade. He couldn't ignore the fact that she was strong with the Force for some reason. Perhaps she really had found the truth he had been hiding from her. _Don't be silly, little girl. You're no match for me. Whatever truth you've found will not keep you safe from me. You died once already, and you can die again for all I care._

He could feel her mocking him with a laughter, a sound that accompanied the background noise of swirling lightsabers. _I've already bested you once, with Joon._

Her response confused him, but she allowed him to easily find the meaning behind it. _So, you were the one disguised as Fett. Pity. It makes Joon's defeat even more pointless. _

Her laughter built the second time. _For one so powerful, you dissapoint me, Eknath. You're missing the obvious fact. You couldn't sense me then._

That much was true, he admitted to himself. This woman was beginning to annoy him. _Then come face me now, Junn. Let's not prolong what we are both looking forward to._

She laughed. _I am not done on Regana yet._

It bothered him he didn't know what she was referring to. With her powers and her newfound strength she could produce a great deal of trouble. He blamed himself for not killing her when he had the chance. He was fast becoming fed up with clones and people returning from the dead.

_As soon as I leave this planet, the facility will be destroyed from orbit. So you had better hurry, little girl. Soon this repair yard will be the Galaxy's most expensive graveyard._

Once again she made that mocking laughter, a sound that left him feeling fear for the first time in an eternity. _I have fate on my side, Eknath. One you tried to hide from me. Just like you did Saul, just like you did with Joon, just like you betrayed Sonnet._

His expression soured. _Not well enough, apparently._

Her connection faded and he snarled angrily at the exhange. Whatever that foolish woman planned to do, he wasn't going to stick around for the show. He turned back around to watch Krych and Rishi still fighting. He was hoping he could prolong the battle further, pushing Rishi further inside his control, but with Junn plotting against him somewhere below he wasn't going to press his luck any further.

Krych's shattered face was a mess of tears and anger aimed inward. He could feel the young man losing himself, giving away his final thoughts before a certain death could take him. The pain his wounded face was giving him was almost gone, it seemed. But Eknath knew that Krych was not going to let it fade. He had grown used to the pain, and was using it to keep himself alive.

_How ironic_, Eknath thought.

The lightsabers clashed with bright lightning. "I've begun to cherish pain, Kjoil," Krych hissed through his teeth.

The words only provoked Rishi further and they fought on, Rishi's eyes tearing up with the anger flowing through him, fighting with all of the Dark Side to kill the man he thought had killed his Master. Eknath waited for an oppertune moment and when it arrived, he reached out to the lightsaber in Krych's hand and switched the blade off.

And Rishi was right on mark.

"Cherish this!"

The green lightsaber sliced clean down through Krych's vanished defense, cutting down through the monster's shoulder, depriving him of his right arm. Krych unleashed an unhuman cry as the pain went through him. The squad leader of the Sons of Destiny fell down on his knees, biting his jaw tight in pain and anger. The shoulder and surrounding armor had melted in an instant, and Krych's right arm laid uselessly by his side. Krych's left arm was keeping him from falling flat on the ceiling, but it soon buckled.

Or maybe he allowed it to give in, surrending himself to his death.

The monster laid out flat before Rishi as he swirled the blade in his hand, bringing it above his head in a two-handed grip, reversing the blade so it pointed downwards. And he closed his eyes -

"No!" Eknath spat, his eyes full of frenzied lust. "Do not be afraid to look! Stare it down! It is your enemy! He killed your Master! Take what is rightfully yours!"

Rishi opened his eyes again, his vision clouded by sweat and tears.

"Do it! Do it now - "

Rishi vented his frustration and fear in a full-blown scream, stabbing the blade down through Krych's back and through the surface the apprentice laid on. Krych died instantly. Rishi was still screaming when he pulled the blade out, swinging it at the air to releash his anger, biting his jaw together tightly.

Eknath stood there, beaming with pride, giving a low dark chuckle. "Good boy," he said proudly, "_my _boy."

But Rishi was not finished. He raised his blade and let it fall upon the corpse of his enemy again and again and again. Cutting Krych's body into pieces with swift strokes of the green blade, filling the air with the scent of burnt clothes and flesh. Krych's bodyparts scattered across the roof, soon nothing more than a mangled mess of blood and severed limbs, with a crisscrossing pattern of scorched lines etched into the roof and beneath.

Tears of pride formed in the corners of Eknath's red eyes. "Yes...that's it. You see it."

Rishi dropped down on his knees, breathing hard, trying desperately to pull air through his clenched teeth. "Alright...I'll - I'll follow you."

"No, dear Rishi," Eknath walked slowly to stand behind Rishi, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders for comfort and support, "from this moment, _I_ follow _you_. Keep looking inside of yourself, my boy, and there you will find - " Eknath sunk his claws into Rishi's shoulders, gripping them tightly, " - _me_."

* * *

Kast ran through the corridors of Hope's Haven without a predetermined destination. He knew he was the only left alive inside the facility. All of the soldiers were already onboard the _Masamune _and there was no way for him to get onboard now. There were no ships inside the facility either. But he had to keep running. If he didn't run, if he started to slow down, his thoughts and feelings would overpower him. He had to keep looking, there had to be something.

He had to keep running from the wave of sorrow chasing him. He felt an unusual cold moving through his soul. The sensation crept up his spine and wrapped itself around his heart. He had to fight back the tears. Murdered, each and every one of them.

When he closed his eyes he could see his teammates staring back at him. He saw betrayal in each one of them. Blame cast at him, just as they had back at the Gauntlet when he'd failed them. These men had fought with him for years, they'd been unbeatable together, they were brothers.

And now they were all dead. His only friends, almost family.

Kast caught himself scouting the horizons for enemies, wishing he could see just one of those who'd killed his comrades so he could avenge them. Wishing he could've at least have had the honor of dying next to them. It had felt wrong that he was still alive.

It felt wrong that he hadn't died fighting beside them, that was how he'd always expected to die. Kast felt so much anger inside him, more than just anger, it felt like a blast furnace was spewing flames and steam inside his head. He felt hollow. Just like back at the Gauntlet.

They'd failed and now Coruscant was going to fall.

No, they hadn't failed.

_He'd _failed.

If only he'd…he could've done something. _Anything_.

Shaking his head he managed to outrun the sorrow for a little while yet. He was all alone now, but he didn't believe he was still alive if there wasn't some kind of escape for him. He'd never believed in destiny, but it just seemed he was alive for a reason. He couldn't explain, he'd never been good at such things. He was a soldier, and survival was all he knew how to do.

Maybe there was some way of contacting Coruscant. Although the power being supplyed to Hope's Haven was flimsy at best, maybe he could work something out. There had to be _something_.

_Come on, think!_

His lungs burned with exhaustion, his muscles screaming for a break, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't let himself slow down. He had to keep looking. Any minute now the whole facility could fall down around him, he had a feeling the Sons of Destiny would destroy it before leaving it behind. Never leave an enemy stronghold intact.

The rifle in his hands was hugged tightly to his chest, it took some of the anxiety out of him to hold something, for his fingers to be occupied. The safety on the rifle kept getting switched on and off, the scope continously readjusted, all of it on a subconcious level that his mind didn't think about, but his hands knew by instinct.

_Where? Where? Where!_

His feet finally stopped running as his helmet's sensors picked up ambient noise. He turned up the microphone and listened for whatever the helmet had heard that he couldn't. It sounded like a faint voice, a female voice.

Somewhere behind him.

He readied his rifle and started going back down the corridor, coming inside a junction of hallways. His rifle checked every corner and shadow, but there was no one there. The sound in his helmet was now a steady static, like that of a faulty comlink connection. He set the helmet to filter out the static and boosted the signal.

"...ublic commando, can you hear me? Please respond..."

He heard the voice clearly now. The station's internal comm system was activated and someone was speaking through the speakers inside of the junction area. That female voice spoke to him, the voice insanely loud over the comm system, echoing down the many empty hallways.

"Republic commando, find a comm unit nearby and answer me."

He was instantly aware that he couldn't trust whoever this was, but it was something to go on. He had to search every option he had. He spotted a comm unit nearby and activated it.

"I'm here," he said into the comm system.

Her relieved sigh over the system made it seem like the entire facility was sighing. "Thank the Force. Listen to me, I'm on your side. We have to link up."

He kept a close eye on his surroundings. "How do you expect me to trust you?"

"You have no choice _but _to trust me. In a few minutes this facility will be bombarded by the _Masamune_. You'll die if you don't do as I say."

"Who are you?" he asked, not really expecting an honest answer.

"I'll explain everything once you come where I am."

He raised an eyebrow. "But you're inside the station. I'm dead wherever I go."

She sounded like she had given up on him. "Fine, go die if you want. But if you change your mind, I'm at the the underground cloning facility."

Kast's entire world lit up with hope. The cloning facility was far beneath the surface. No turbolaser could penetrate that deep. There was hope again, a chance at survival. He looked around himself franticly for a lift.

A set of doors opened on the opposite side of the room with a clear chime, the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"You're welcome," the voice of the comm system said.

* * *

_Masamune_'sbridge was bustling loudly with with activity, several of the last remaining soldiers that belonged to the Sons of Destiny had been promoted to engineers and technicians. An even thousand troopers had been quartered throughout the ship, given a period of much needed rest.

All of them had cheered as Eknath and Rishi had set foot on the hangar floor. A feeling of completion had washed over Rishi, a feeling of finally being at the end of a long road, and seeing a brighter future ahead. Although he felt no pride or elation at the thought of having all these soldiers obey him, the sight and feeling of their strength in numbers did bring out a small smile.

But not one nearly as grand and honest as Eknath's. The telepath had held out his arms, as though he wanted to embrace every last soldier. Their cheering built, echoing loudly off the walls of the hangar.

Rishi followed in Eknath's wake as the telepath walked to the bridge's command, the mercenary called Jovis already present, looking splendid and very proud of himself in a Sons of Destiny uniform.

"Commander Jovis," Eknath purred, "I see that all has been taken care of."

Jovis saluted. "Yes. The Masamune is moving out of Regana's atmosphere as we speak. We should be back in space in a few minutes. The captains are secured in the detention block, and I have a small squad guarding them. The rest of the soldiers have been given quarters and are getting some much needed rest. It's been a long campaign."

Rishi watched the man over Eknath's shoulder, anger filling him by the sight of the man's brainless loyalty, his obvious need for confirmation.

"Excellent work, Jovis," Eknath said and took a seat in the command chair, his lean body resting instantly. "Are the coordinates for our next destination logged in?"

"Yes, sir," Jovis answered crisply.

Eknath held out his palm towards Rishi. "Commander Jovis, I'd like you to meet Rishi Kjoil. A recent addition to our unit."

Jovis turned and saluted Rishi. "Welcome, sir."

Rishi only offered a frown as a response and walked to stand behind Eknath, facing the blizzards outside the viewports of the bridge. "Next destination? We're not going to Coruscant directly?" he asked over his shoulder.

Eknath rotated the chair to face Rishi's back. "In due time," he said softly. "You need your rest as well, my young apprentice."

The bridge's doors slid open and Jedi Master Raine walked through determined, two soldiers behind him dragging an unconscious Kal Ulani. Raine stopped close to Eknath's chair and set himself in a comfortable pose, while the soldiers dropped Kal onto the floor next to him. Rishi turned sideways and saw Kal lying there, his leg severely wounded. An impulse to run and help Kal ran through him, but he kept himself in check. Any sign of weakness would not look good.

Raine nodded to Eknath. "I bring Kal Ulani, the Jedi that helped the Kjoil in his mission."

Eknath smiled smugly and held up his hand to indicate Rishi behind him. "And I bring the Kjoil himself."

Rishi and Raine locked eyes, hiding well their shared surprise and disguising it with a curt nod.

"Ah, yes," Eknath recalled something, "you two have met before, haven't you?"

The skin around Raine's eyes tightened. "Briefly."

Eknath chuckled and looked over at his new apprentice. "Raine here has a talent for putting himself where he needs to be," his words took on a bitter edge, "and also for resuscitating arcane beliefs." Eknath nodded towards Kal's motionless body. "Why?"

Raine lifted an eyebrow. "Do you really need to ask, _Prophet_?"

Eknath's lips thinned. "I see." The tall man rose from his chair and clasped his hands together. "In that case, excellent work, my old friend. Another Jedi to the fold. I will break this one easily."

Raine started to straighten up, a defiant look upon his face. "He is my _captive_, Eknath. Not a present."

Eknath's stern face revealed his growing distate for people who opposed him. "I think you are forgetting who was left in charge."

"And I think you are forgetting you're not the only one left in charge," Raine held out his hand over Kal, "he belongs to me."

Eknath's eyes looked around at Jovis, at his soldiers who had taken a sudden interest in their conversation, his warriors. He saw Rishi eying him skepticly, Jovis looking slightly intriqued by the discussion. But in all eyes he saw their expectation that he would confront Raine and put the old Jedi fool in his place.

He had no real desire to do so, since Raine was a great ally to have despite his quirks and his blatant ignorance to the bigger picture. But losing the respect of his warriors, espicially Rishi, was not acceptable nor productive to his cause. He felt sad for a heartbeat and then he let his eyes finally lock back on the small old Jedi Master.

"Fine then." Eknath's cloak flew open, his hands reaching up into the air, channeling the Force through his fingers. The lights inside the bridge started to flicker in bad rhythm.

Jovis jumped back, removing himself from the situation, while Rishi moved to stand next to his new Master, instantly battle-ready.

Raine's old hand slowly moved towards the lightsaber on his belt. "What are you doing, Eknath?"

Eknath's red eyes began to glow. "I am putting you in your place, once and for all."

Raine's fingers felt his lightsaber. "Do not do this, Eknath. This was a family, a brotherhood!"

Eknath chuckled madly. "Which is why we fight more ferociously than we would a stranger. Misfortune and adversity; they are the true marks of a friendship."

Raine's green lightsaber came to life. "Don't test me!"

The storm, a hurricane created by the Force, amassed around Eknath, his cloak flapping like the wings of a bird trying to lift off for the first time. The soldiers on the bridge backed away, even Kal's body was brushed aside, sliding across the polished floor.

But Rishi stood firm, in equal distance to both of them, feeling strangely detached. He'd already left so much behind him, and neither Raine nor Eknath mattered enough for even his heart to beat faster. He knew he could take any one of them if it came to that. He'd managed to delude Eknath into thinking he was along with his plan, but if he saw a window he would strike down the psychopath in an instant.

Eknath's storm intensified, pulling the little Raine closer to him. Raine had a defiant grim look on his face as his boots slid across the floor, drawn to Eknath like he was a great magnet. Eknath himself moved his hands down, lightning starting to dance around the ends of his fingers.

"You cannot do this, Eknath!" Raine yelled. "I know what you're up to! You betrayed us all, just like Krych said!"

Eknath's face crunched up in anger. "Krych is dead, you old fool! Just like Joon, just like Ragh," the Dark Jedi bowed his head, forming an evil grin, "just like Sonnet!"

Rishi's head came up at the mention of that name, as did Raine's. "You...let him die?" Raine asked.

His words came through clearly across the storm. "I allowed the clone to take his soul, gave him a chance to escape. Combined with Sonnet, he became so powerful he eventually lost himself, becoming so weak that even a fool like Krych could lure him into a trap. I had hoped Koll would have been the one to trap the clone, but he proved useless as always!"

Raine ground his boots into the floor, asserting himself. "Why?"

"Because I _need _this war, I _want _this war! I needed Koll motivated, and as long as the clone existed he could never see clearly. He was wasting time. I set the clone free so that they would finally settle their conflict and Koll could put his focus back where it belonged," Eknath's fingers continued to pulse with energy, "back to warfare, the only thing he does best!"

Raine held his lightsaber up over his head, standing firm and strong. "Your plan has backfired then. Koll has left us."

Eknath shook his head. "Koll is _waiting _for me and it wasn't my plan," his eyes burned red, "It was Sasa's."

"Sasa's?" Raine asked disbelievingly. "But he was her brother. You said yourself she thought of him as her son?"

Eknath grinned. "Poetic, isn't it?"

Raine moved his lightsaber down to aim at Eknath. "I don't believe you!"

Eknath's head tilted. "But no Force has told you to kill me, either, has it? No Force has put you in a position to change anything I've done. Because it _needed _to happen. It was destined to happen. This _has _to happen!"

Rishi still stood at equal distance to them both, letting their conversation register in the back of his mind. These were the pieces of a puzzle he hadn't yet stumbled upon, but vital information that he would scrutiny later.

"There is no destiny anymore!" Raine was summoning the Force around him. "The clone took it with him to the netherworld!"

Eknath shook his head. "Don't be a fool, Raine. If there is no future to see, that doesn't entail fate is altered. It only means the Force doesn't want you to know. Such as this!"

Eknath unleashed a shower of lightning from his palms that shrouded the short Jedi Master, tightning around him like an electrified noose. The currents broke his lightsaber, shattering the weapon inside his palm but the Jedi Master fought back, creating a sphere around himself that no Dark Side lightning could penatrate.

The tendrils cracked and sputtered against the invisible ball around Raine, and the Jedi Master seized the moment. Holding the sphere around him intact with one hand, he called Kal's borrowed lightsaber to his other hand. Moving the sphere as he went he ran for Eknath, with Rishi's very own lightsaber held up high -

Quick as a shadow Rishi rolled across the floor, meeting Raine on the halfway mark between him and Eknath, emerging on the other side of their distance with Master Skar's green lightsaber active in one hand.

The storm died out and silence filled the bridge except for Raine's stunted breathing, he no longer so much ran as he slowly stumbled the last few steps, falling against Eknath's statue-like form, slowly tumbling into a heap on the floor by his feet. A wide gash across Raine's chest proved Rishi's strike had been clean, but not lethal.

Rishi's lightsaber rolled from Raine's hand.

"Good," Eknath chuckled as he nudged the Jedi Master away from his feet, "now finish it!"

The soldiers around them reacted, their weapons raised.

Rishi moved up his blade and aimed it at Raine. "No."

Eknath's evil eyes squinted. "He is a danger and a relic of old - "

"He stays alive," Rishi asserted himself, "because I say so."

Eknath's fury built up again. "You are in no position to deny my authority, Rishi!"

"Nor you mine," Rishi responded coldly, the lightsaber in his hand moving around just enough to let the sound make an impression. "And you will _follow_, right?"

Before Eknath could answer Raine settled the matter for them. With what strength he could muster he took hold of Rishi's lightsaber on the floor near him, ignited the blade and sent it whirling towards the nearest viewport. The pane shattered into a million pieces and the winds outside swarmed inside of the bridge, far greater than the one Eknath had managed to produce.

In the chaos that ensued, Raine got to his feet and jumped for the broken viewport, his shape quickly vanishing the blur of the clouds and winds outside. A second later a wall of metal slammed down over the viewport, sealing the gap and reestablishing the pressure inside the bridge.

Eknath rose from behind his command chair, raising a fist at the viewport. "Curse that geriatric fool!" The fist quickly swung around to aim a finger at Rishi. "This is your doing! You allowed him to escape!"

Rishi had stood firm even in the face of the new storm, his eyes staring at the viewport disenchanted. The lightsaber in his hand shut down. "At least he's out of our way. If he makes his way back to Hope's Haven he'll die along with everything else still there."

Eknath bit his lip in anger. "You better pray he does."

Rishi's eyes moved to Kal's still unconscious body on the floor far away. "Troopers! Take him to the detention block."

Soldiers sprung into action and picked up Kal, dragging him across the floor.

"And make sure his wound is treated," Rishi added. "I want him alive."

Eknath frowned at Rishi's back as he collected himself. The telepath dropped into his command chair with a deep sigh, Jovis appearing at his side. "Continue as planned, commander," Eknath swung the chair around to face the viewports and the approaching dark veil of space. "It's high time we leave this desolate planet behind."

Jovis nodded. "There are several requests for a report from Coruscant High Command waiting, sir. They don't know what has happened here. What should we do about it?"

Eknath made a temple with his hands underneath his fingers and contemplated his many options. "Hmm. Our return into Republic space will be even convincing with a casualty, to back up our _reformed _captains."

Rishi's head came up, full of confusion. "Admiral Saul is already gone, along with all the Republic soldiers."

Eknath flashed his famous devilish grin. "Oh, I wasn't referring to _living _casualties. I was thinking about something more along the lines of a casualty visible on our first approach to Coruscant. A sacrifice. It could even save us some time in wiping Hope's Haven off the face of Regana." Eknath looked up at Jovis. "Which would you prefer, Commander; the _Ronin _or the _Infinity_?"

* * *

Jedi Master Raine tumbled through the air, riding on the currents of the storm, letting it carry him through the clouds. Gliding on the winds, he enfolded himself in the Force. He allowed it to flow through him, centering its focus on the gash across his chest.

Rishi's blade had been close enough to burn clothes and singe flesh, even to make an depression across his ribcage. His breath was painful, every inhale stabbing his chest with a thousand nails. The pain and cold air produced tears from his eyes that flew upwards as he fell downward.

He wouldn't able to heal the wound, he knew that much. But if he could dull the pain he could turn his attention to slowing his descent, a feat that would be impossible if he couldn't block out the agony.

He didn't allow his mind to wander about the possibilities of his death, it was wasteful energy to consider the probabilites of him achieving what he had to before the ground came to him. There was no point in questioning whether or not he would make it, all he could do was to actually do it.

He closed his eyes against the sight of clouds rushing by, of snow seemingly falling upwards, that distant darkness that he knew was the surface of Regana. He shut himself away inside his mind and made himself one with the Force. The pain in his chest slowly was slowly dialed down, reducing it to a mere ache rather than a torment.

Once that was completed, he moved the Force outside of himself, far beneath him, keeping it steady like a sail that directed his course. He produced a gravity devoid space and lined his body up for a faster descent.

He glided into the bubble and all sound of roaring winds died out in the blink of an eye. Suddenly there was only silence, and he hovered at the center of his sphere of nulled gravity. He still wouldn't allow himself to open his eyes, seeing the ground far or close could break his concentration, which would be fatal.

With his mind he gingerly moved the sphere down, thus moving himself as well, slowly towards the ground, however far that might -

His feet touched metal.

The sphere burst around him and he opened his eyes, surprised to see himself standing on the one of the roofs of Hope's Haven. He'd been no more than three feet above the building when he'd entered the sphere. Another second and he'd been dead.

Raine smiled and shook his head, amused at his own luck.

He looked up and could barely make out the shadow of _Masamune _fading away beyond the clouds. He sent a frown their way and collected his cloak around him. Then, shunting the pain starting to build up in his chest again, he went for the nearest lift.

* * *

The _Masamune _and the _Ronin _drifted side by side towards the edge of the Regana Sector, their powerful engines carrying them across space. They passed the _Infinity _long their way, the third Star Destroyer having been designated for a much different fate.

Onboard the _Infinity _were still a little over a thousand crew members, whose lives were about to come an abrupt end. Chaos was breaking out aboard the _Infinity_, those still alive screaming for their lives, while their captain, warped by Eknath, was moving the ship directly for Regana's atmosphere. The _Masamune _and _Ronin _didn't stay around to watch the third ship crash, they jumped into hyperspace at their first chance.

And so the _Infinity _slowly sailed towards its death, ramming through atmosphere and coming bow first down upon Hope's Haven

The ship stabbed into Regana's crust like a giant sword, setting off several chained explosions detonating inside of its hull, balls of flame erupting along its surface. At impact the surface of the planet jolted, before building into a series of all out earthquakes. The station was quickly flooded with fire, massive burning waves spiralling out around ground zero. The ordanance planted by the Dragon's Tooth went off as the heatwave reached their locations, three massive detonations riding on the back of a greater.

Buildings were torn from the ground, exploding in air as the blast cast everything aside. Those that managed to stand firm against the shockwave, melted in seconds, painting the surface around them in giant grayish oceans.

The _Infinity _continued to dive into the snow-covered surface, burying itself in a sea of fire. The waves of fire washed out beyond the borders of the station, over the surrounding mountains, melting their icecaps as they passed, creating water than flooded back down the mountains, extenquishing a few fires but not enough to save the station.

The _Infinity _itself finally exploded, creating a volcano effect as the ship erupted in a mushroom cloud of fire, breaking into a billion pieces, some blown far enough to break atmosphere.

Hope's Haven dissapeared inside a magnificient flaming sun. As the explosion finally died hours later, all that remained was a crater the size of a city across the surface Hope's Haven had once filled.

* * *

She awoke slowly, as though the hands of sleep weren't quite finished with her yet. The soft calmness that came with sleep kept luring her back, begging her to look away at the small light starting to break through the darkness. Pleading her to turn her attention back to the flimsy images that rolled past her inner eye like a slideshow, to feelings and thoughts that belong to no set time in her life.

Sasa forced her eyes open, forced them to focus on the little light fixture above the chair she in which she laid reclined. Her body felt drugged, an unnatural drowsiness heavier than that of sleep. Something had definitely affected her, an outside agent. But a quick inspection of her body with the Force showed no alien substances.

She moved her head down, seeing distant stars drift by slowly outside the viewscreen of the shuttle she was in. She sat in a co-pilot's seat, unfastened, wearing different clothes than the armor she'd worn when she'd been on Regana. She could barely remember her last time there, and had to retrace events in her head to find the last memory of Regana.

But when she finally pieced the puzzle together, an unsettlement sent tremors through her gut and she couldn't help slowly moving her head around to find the man that had brought her here.

Koll sat in the pilot's seat to her left, hand rubbing his chin while his eyes studied the screens in front of him. His lips formed a smile as he felt her attention, but he didn't turn to look at her. "Hello there," he said softly.

The sound of his voice brought a reflex smile to her own lips. "Where - " her throat felt dry and she coughed. "Where are we?"

His hand left his chin and punched up a holographic representation of their location and vector. "Back home."

She watched the hologram unfold into a flat representation of the Galaxy. As well as the great white region at it's corner that made up the Unknown Regions. Their old home. She touched the hologram and the Unknown Regions exploded into high detail. Koll must've upgraded the shuttle with their own navigational intelligence.

She looked up from the hologram and inspected the cockpit around her. It didn't resemble any ship she'd ever flown. "This is one of Regana's shuttles?"

Koll nodded, that first smile dimming. "Borrowed from Hope's Haven; the _Star Orchid_."

As an afterthought she searched the shuttle for other lifeforms but there were none. They were alone. For many years she had wanted to spend time alone with Koll, and now that she had it she couldn't help feeling unsafe. Her right hand felt for a familiar weight on her hip and found her lightsaber still there.

Koll noticed it, and a slight frown passed over his face. "You have no reason to fear me, Sasa. Everything is going according to plan."

"Plan?" she asked. "You sedated me, took me all the way out here." All the facts passed through her mind like an endless river. "What happened on Regana? Where are the others?"

He locked a course into the navigational computer and swirled his seat to face her. "We've only been gone from Regana a little over a week. I've kept in contact with the army ever since, and things are going splendidly. Eknath is in charge now - "

"Eknath?" she said confused. "Eknath is not capable of leading the army. He's a...psychopath."

Koll collected his hands at his knees. "I trust him every bit as much as I trust you, Sasa. He's one of us. He's always been hard to read, I know that as well as you do, but our common ideals keep us loyal to each other."

She scoffed. "Last time I saw him you were beating him up because he'd scarred Joon again. And you want me to trust him?"

Koll allowed himself a smug smile. "Me and Eknath weren't fighting. I was giving him orders. The fight you saw was merely a facade."

Her jaw dropped. "A facade?"

He nodded. "There's a traitor inside of our unit, our organisation. To keep information about our plans hidden from any leak, I used the incident you witnessed as a means of relaying orders."

She found it hard to believe she wouldn't have noticed such a ploy, but Koll was not the lying type, espicially with her. "Am I here...because you trust me? Or because you don't trust me?"

He leaned forward in his seat and placed his right hand on her chair's headrest. "You are here, because I trust you most of all."

Her inside warmed at his words and the love glowing from his eyes. She leaned her face over to his and they kissed. A pure untainted kiss, undisturbed by the usual chaos going on around them. And with that kiss, she felt safe in his presence again. Safer than she'd ever felt before.

He rested his forehead against hers. "I never meant to hurt you, or hide anything from you."

She kept her eyes locked with his. "I know."

He kissed her forehead and gave her the smile of a man who truly believed he'd been given more luck than he deserved. "I have to tell you the rest of the plan, where we're going, what we're going to do."

She was slightly saddened that their sweet moment couldn't last a little longer, but she also knew that once this was all over, they would have amble time to make up for the love between them they'd taken for granted. "Go on."

Koll put the ship into motion and the stars outside started to drift by faster. "Eknath has taken control of two Republic star destroyers. He's also captured their captains. As we speak he's on his way to our rendezvous," he smiled, "our home."

Home. A peaceful planet inside the Unknown Regions called Anodyn. The thought of the beautiful woods on the surface of Anodyn brought warm memories through her, and she suddenly realized how much she missed the comfort of their castle in the mountains. "I thought there were three star destroyers?"

"There were," Koll elaborated, "but Eknath felt that to convince Coruscant it was important we cut away one of them. He's crashed one of the SDs into Hope's Haven, destroying the entire facility. He felt a visible loss of forces was needed to help our objective."

Somehow it made her feel resolved that the dreadful repair facility no longer existed. Some of her darkest thoughts and memories had taken place inside of it. "Convince Coruscant?"

"Yes. This was part of my objective all along. Eknath will use his powers to manipulate the commanders of each destroyer. Along with them, the two destroyers have entry codes that can get them past Coruscant's orbital defences. Once they're through, Eknath will command the captains of each destroyer to plunge the ship into Coruscant's surface, at chosen sites. All of the leaders and the Senate will perish in the destruction and most of Coruscant will slowly be eaten away by the radiation from their exposed reactors. The planet will die, along with everyone unfortunate enough to be planetside."

The images in her head left her breathless. She knew that a massive deathtoll had always been involved, but she'd never known how. Having once lived on Coruscant and marveled in its beauty on a daily basis, she felt an ache inside knowing she'd been a part of devising the destruction of all that beauty. But her personal feelings were easily pushed aside by her dedication to the cause.

"But that's not a long-term solution," she pointed out, "Coruscant is just a planet. There are thousands of ships, soldiers and facilities spread throughout the Galaxy. The Republic won't die with Coruscant."

Koll nodded. "I know. But Coruscant is a symbol. The planet itself represents the heart of the Republic. If we destroy the symbol, the psychological effects will weaken our enemies. If they believe their home and their highest leaders are gone, their will is going to fold. They will fall to despair, making them irrational and easily defeated."

She wasn't too convinced. "An irrational army numbering several _millions _of troopers, and hundreds of _thousands _of ships, Koll."

Koll smiled, he seemed to enjoy her skeptisicm. Enjoyed it because he knew he would prove her wrong. He always had. "Leaderless and divided."

She shook her head. "It's still a sizable enemy."

He sniggered. "Sasa, my dear, I don't intend to fight them. At least not all of them."

"What?"

He flashed that smug grin she'd fallen in love with a thousand times before. "I am going to _convert _them."

Ice flowed through her veins. "Convert them?"

He looked back at his screens. "Once Coruscant is destroyed, I will release a statement declaring our intentions, our presence and our goals. The ideals of a better future, a brighter future. One not beset by war, corruption and strife. One without senators and politicians. A world where warriors exist to defend the helpless, governing through compassion for all living beings. One where injustice will be repaid with the true justice; an eye for an eye. It will be difficult at first, but slowly things will change. Change is rarely swift."

She took in his words. It was what she wanted, the world she was fighting to build. And a part of her was afraid the change would happen so slowly she wouldn't be alive to see it fully blossom. "You can't expect everyone to fall in line."

"I don't," he leaned back in his seat, "but that's what our army is for." His eyes darkened for a moment and he looked away from her. "Eknath told me...in his last transmission, that Krych has become one with the Force."

Sasa's heart started to beat faster and a hollow feeling in her chest sucked all air from her lungs. "What?" She remembered taking care of Krych, holding the young man in her arms after he'd returned from fighting with the clone. He'd been scarred horribly by fire. "He died from his wounds?"

Koll shook his head, his voice trembling. He'd cared for Krych also. "No, he...he survived the burns and led our soldiers against the Republic's ground forces. He won the day for us there. But the Kjoil apprentice showed up unexpectedly along with the Republic fleet. He killed Krych, as well as Joon and Ragh."

She couldn't believe it. Joon and Ragh were easier for her to dismiss because one of them had been a misguided youth that she had always prayed would find death, and the other was a creature that had never shown much hint of a sentient being. But Krych was her apprentice, the closest thing she had to a son after they'd lost Skar.

The Dark Side was strong with her in that moment, but it wasn't fear or anger or hate. It was sadness, a calling card of Darkness that most teachers never bothered to include in their doctrins. A feeling that was easily corruptable.

Her tears flowed easily but she restrained herself from falling apart. She knew her feeling of loss wouldn't fade for many years, that only time would heal this gap in her heart. And she also knew that Krych would have died as a warrior, a bright example for all of the Sons of Destiny to live up to.

Koll rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sasa."

She held her hand against her mouth, feeling the tears run over the back of her hand. "What about Junn?"

Koll exhaled. "He said they never saw her, and that he believed she must have died."

Her pain built. Junn was a daughter to Koll the way Krych was a son to her. Once again they were parents without children. The tears intensified, but she knew that maybe it was for the best. Like Koll had once said, children had been their weakness. It was a sentimental attachment that left them vulnurable and as irrational as they hoped to make the Republic forces. It wasn't easy for her to think that way, but she began to understand what Koll had meant at the time.

Koll looked down at the floor. "He also told me...that Raine was the traitor."

Pain quickly transformed into suspicion and Sasa's eyes went to Koll to in an instant. "No. I don't believe that."

Koll opened his mouth to talk but no words came out.

"That's a lie, Koll. Don't tell me you believe that?"

Koll looked at a loss for words. "Not easily. But he was always removed from the rest of us. He followed his own path in the end. Eknath said Raine escaped before they could stop him." Koll finally looked at her. "Raine was a dear friend, Sasa. A _very _dear friend. And I'm not entirely convinced that Eknath has told me the full truth of what happened. But we'll find out once we meet up with him."

She dried away her last tears, feeling an anger aimed at Eknath, a feeling that the telepath was working against them. "I want to be there when he tells us what happened."

Koll nodded and took her hand in his, squeezed it. "It's you and me. We're the heart of this."

She smiled bravely and then nodded towards the stars. "So...where are we going?"

Koll's voice took on a darker tone. "Well, that's the other thing."

She looked at him.

"Destroying Coruscant...is merely a secondary objective."

She thought she'd heard him wrong. "Destroying Coruscant, the capital of the Galaxy, is a _secondary _objective?"

"Yes...Sasa, the man who hired us to destroy the Republic, the man who funded the siege and all of our army, is a Dark Lord of the Sith."

Fear finally found her, and she wished she had given in to sleep back when she had the chance. "That's impossible...Palpatine was the last one. There've been pretenders, rogue Jedi with delusions of grandeur, but all of them have been proved wrong and been destroyed. There are no Sith left."

Koll swallowed hard. "Sasa, like you I have stood before a Sith Lord. I know one when I see it. _Darth Eclipos _is not a pretender, and he will stop at nothing to cover this Galaxy in all of his darkness."

She felt her hands start to tremble, even the one still inside his. "Why...why are we helping him?"

"We're not," Koll reassured her. "He contacted me while we were in the Unknown Regions. Our exploits had reached his ears. At first I turned down his offer, but then I learned what he was. He is untraceable, Sasa. I arranged a meeting with him without your knowing, and I've kept this a secret from you for a long time. To protect you. Any army that grows as our have is bound to have weaknesses, people easily seduced to betray us, as we've already seen."

She felt as though the chair she sat in was about to eat her alive. "Who is he?"

Koll's voice lowered, as though he was afraid the Sith could hear him. "No one knows about him but me. Once I understood what he was, I knew I had to stop him. I agreed to fulfill his contract, to destroy Coruscant so he could take over, but only so I could get closer to him. The Darkness has all but destroyed his body and so he needs a new body."

Sasa felt enlightened. "The body we cloned on Regana."

Koll nodded. "The very same that is now in hibernation in the cargo hold of this shuttle. We can destroy him while he is being transferred. But to get him close, to assure him that we are doing his bidding, there had to be some sacrifice."

Sasa felt another piece of the puzzle fall into place. "The Republic forces on Regana."

"Exactly. With their defeat he knows now that we are capable and he trusts us." He tugged at her hand, encouragingly. "Trust me. I am not about to hand over the Galaxy to another Sith Lord, Sasa."

She managed to chuckle slightly. "So what now?"

He let go of her hand and turned his attention to the shuttle's controls. "Last time I communicated with him I was finally able to pinpoint his location. As far as he knows we're onboard the star destroyers heading for Anodyn, where he was going to meet up with us to receive the clone body. He refused to meet with us before Coruscant was destroyed, so now we're going to go see _him _instead."

* * *

Dropping out of hyperspace the engines of the _Star Orchid _roared majestically as it swept across the stars, slowly decellerating until finally taking its place in the edge of the small fleet in the system. Hundreds and hundreds of makeshift starfighters, cruisers, yachts and freighters had huddled together around an old and crippled Star Destroyer.

Every one of the ships wore the marks of custom made changes, personal alterations to suit the needs of their owners. And everyone of them had names to suggest fear or strength, many of them decorated with images of teeth or claws. Some of them had mythical creatures painted on the sides.

These were beloved ships, the very pride and joy of their owners. The sort of ship that could only belong to mercenaries, assassins or bounty hunters, and each one of them did. Faking a bounty hunter license Koll had managed to hear about a bounty hunter convocation, a gathering of bounty hunters and others alike from all over the universe. They had gathered to claim their right for a new bounty, collecting missions and assignments that a singular source, rather than having to seek them out on their own.

The more famous bounty hunters didn't need to visit such convocations as their reputations made them easy to contact; the famous never found themselves looking for new work, but far newcomers in the hunt it was much different. Until they made enough of a name for themselves they needed gatherings such as this to stay afloat financially.

The Star Destroyer was named the _Jamaryndo_. From there a group of well-connected individuals collected bounties from all over the universe and distributed them among these newcomers. Koll's fake bounty license would get himself inside, along with the rest of the bounty hunters. The ships were admitted onboard the Star Destroyer one by one, checked for explosives and tracking equipment.

Only one man from each ship would be allowed into the convocation chamber, stripped of everything and given clothes to wear, to minimize the chances of fighting onboard the _Jamaryndo_; a rule that had been made necessary after many occassions of infighting brought on by broken pride. The rule made Koll feel safer, as he was sure he was about to get on somebody's bad side.

Once his ship was admitted and storaged, the fake license working as planned, two guards met him outside the_ Star Orchid_. Both of them armed, they tossed him a set of black clothes; boots, pants and a shirt. He redressed quickly, left his weaponry onboard the _Orchid_, along with Sasa, and they guided him through the corridors of the ship, one of them in front and one behind him.

The convocation chamber was not part of the original Star Destroyer design. It was built like an auditorium, single stage surrounded by a semi-circle of ascending stairs. There were no seatings, and some two hundred people stood silently, waiting for the gathering to begin.

Not two people spoke to each other; bounty hunters preferred to work solo in general and did not trust anyone. Every single being in the auditorium was in competition with each other, and if not for the no-weapons rule he suspected the room would have been alive with fighting already. There was hostility in the air, like a surging energy beneath it all, as if the whole room could explode into a massacre at any moment.

Koll took his place at the top level and off to the left, and like all the rest he appeared to be waiting when he was really studying each face, sizing everyone up. Although stripped of their armor and weapons many of the hunters still managed to look intimidating; it was more than their physical appearance, it was in their eyes. The eyes of predators, daredevils. Men who had death hanging over their shoulders as their only companions.

Koll's chest felt hollow when he realized he wasn't that different. But although there was savagary and malice hanging over the crowd, there was also an air of honor. Not respect, but honor. They honored the sacred rules of the convocation, and in Koll's eyes it earned them more respect than he would have thought he could give them.

Some eyed him in turn, sizing him whether to be a defeatable enemy or a waste of time. Those that tried to lock eyes with him, measuring strength by keeping their stare on him until he folded, received a brief image sent to their mind by the Force; an image of all his grand army standing behind him. Koll realized it was a childish act, but it never ceased to amuse him when their faces changed color to a slightly more pale.

Koll wasn't here for the convocation and this wasn't the site of the Sith Lord's communications. He felt it was wise to hire a little external help to aid him in drawing the Sith out of hiding. He had a feeling he would find someone willing to accept the sizable fee he could offer for a relatively small effort.

The convocation began when a small droid rolled onto center stage. Not bothering to welcome the hunters, it rapidly began projecting a large holographic image above itself, large enough for anyone to read, in several different languages. Contracts were lined up, with little to large information about the various jobs on offer. The

hunters raised their hands when they felt a mission was offered that they could live up. The droid's scanners picked out the fastest hand to raise among them and datacards were given containing the information already given, sending the fortunate hunters on their way.

Over time the crowd thinned out to a mere thirty hunters, the droid still uploading contracts. It was almost like an auction, but to Koll a much more interesting game was being played underneath the surface of it all.

He read every hunter still inside the auditorium to find a promising candidate. He was looking for someone young, someone green to the hunt. Someone easily fooled. But he also knew he couldn't approach them directly.

He found a match, and the second before the young hunter, a male human, was about to raise his hand, finding a contract he believed he could complete, Koll raised his. Koll was rewarded the contract, and the young hunter stared furiously up at him from a dais far below him.

Koll threw him a salute, designed to mock the young man, and departed the convocation, datacards in hand.

* * *

Koll had only just stepped inside the hangar the _Star Orchid _had been designated when he felt the young hunter following him. Deciding to give the hunter a chance to surprise him, Koll pretended to have found a small concerning defect on the bottom hull of his ship. The hunter snuck into the hangar without giving off any sounds that a normal human would have picked up on. Koll managed to surpress his nervousness as the hunter stalked him, coming up a few feet behind him.

"That bounty was mine," the hunter said.

Koll didn't pretend to be surprised. He turned around calmly and faced the hunter. A young man, early twenties, was there, wearing expensive fashionable clothes. Koll thought he recognized him from somewhere but wasn't sure. Koll shifted his feet apart, setting himself for a fight. Using the Force he drew in its energy to heighten his senses.

"Hate to say this, but I called it first."

The man's head tilted and he smiled fiendishly. Cocky. "Doesn't matter. I came here for a gig like this. I've been working low-level hunts for three years now. This was my big break. My first step into the major league."

Koll raised an eyebrow. "Then you should have walked faster."

The smile vanished. "Brave words coming from a man who's never been here before. Who snuck in on a fake hunting license. Do you have any idea what would happen to you if anyone learned?"

"No," Koll said flatly, "but it will pale in comparison to what's going to happen to you if you don't step out of my way."

The boy's face darkened. "You've got things turned around - "

"No," Koll said clearly and took a step forward, "that's _you_," he took another step forward, "and if you thought you could come down here, unarmed, and scare me out of the hunt, you're missing one big thing."

The boy flinched. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning you're standing in front of my ship," another step forward brought him within hand's reach, "and while I may not be armed, that doesn't mean my companion onboard the ship isn't."

The man turned halfway. But before he could descern that no one was behind him, Koll had the man by his hair, pulling his head back and slamming his free hand down into the man's chest. The young man made a sound between a choke and a gargle and went down flat on his back, clutching his chest, fighting to breathe.

Walking around to standing between the man and his ship, Koll extended his right hand, pointing up the ramp, and caught the lightsaber as it dropped into his palm. The man was still grasping at his chest, but his eyes widened even further even he saw Koll's lightsaber extend to full length.

Koll slowly moved the lightsaber down and held the tip of the humming blade in front of the man's face. "I'll make a deal with you, kid. I'm not interested in this bounty," Koll held out the datacards with his free hand and dropped them at the young man's knees. "I've got something bigger lined up. I can pay you more than any hunter in history. Help me find a very dangerous man, help me take him down and you'll collect a bounty of ten million credits."

The man leaned on his elbows, trying to not stare himself blind on the blade. "Ten..._million _credits?"

"Yes."

The young man frowned. "I have a hard time believing that."

Koll shrugged. "You can say no and I'll go at it on my own."

The boy's eyes tightened. "How can I be sure you're not playing me?"

Koll shook his head. "You can't. But you have everything to gain and nothing to lose."

The boy snorted. "You could be lying and kill me later."

"True," Koll moved the blade slightly closer to the boy's face, "but I could kill you now if that's what I wanted."

Before the boy could answer, the doors at the back of the hangar opened and a small group of guards rushed in. Not bothering to actually find out what was going on they immediately opened fire.

Koll swung the lightsaber up in a guard position and deflected the shots that threatened him while slowly backstepping up the ramp. On the floor the boy rolled to the bottom of the landing ramp, hoping to hide himself from the many shots flying over his head.

"Come on!" he shouted at the young boy.

The hunter stayed where he was, flat on the floor by the bottom of the ramp. "How do I know I can trust you!"

"You don't! Now get in!" He deflected another batch of bolts. "Sasa, get the ship started!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Still deflecting shots with one hand he grabbed the cowering young man by the neck and flung him up the ramp. By the time Koll reached the top of the ramp it began to close up, sealing up a second later. Koll felt a weight lift from his chest when the engines of the _Star Orchid _begin to fire up.

He could hear the bolts outside striking the hull but felt confident it would hold up for now. The problem was getting off the _Jamaryndo _before they sealed off his exit tunnel.

The boy pushed himself up on his feet and faced Koll. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both of them panting.

"Truce," the boy said.

"For now," Koll powered down his lightsaber and ran for the cockpit. By the time he was seated in the pilot's chair, Sasa had the ship aimed at their exit tunnel. Koll kicked the ship into speed and the _Star Orchid _accelerated to maximum throttle in a heartbeat.

The exit tunnel was a long shaft connected with various other, an intricate tunnel network that connected all of the hangars onboard the _Jamaryndo _with space outside. The destroyer had been hollowed out to allow space for personal hangars for the many hundreds of ships that visited around the monthly convocations.

Sasa fastened herself in and the young bounty hunter secured himself by holding on to Sasa's chair. Koll had always been a great pilot in his younger days, but it had been decades since he'd had to execute a getaway inside something as clunky as a shuttle. Still he proved those reflexes hadn't deterioated over the years and flew the _Star Orchid _with a recklessness the ship had never been designed for.

"Easy," Sasa muttered, her nails digging into her armrests.

Koll grinned as he sent the ship charging down several tunnels, changing direction at the very last impact, barely avoiding a collision with other crafts using the tunnels. He had a feeling the tunnel they'd been given was already shut at the other end, so he decided to give them a run for their money, aimlessy darting in and out of different tunnels, knowing they would never close all of them just to box him in.

The comm system activated itself and a droid's voice spoke out of the speakers. "Shuttle _Star Orchid_; there is no escape. Return to your designated hangar for questioning. You are in violation of _Jamaryndo_ protocol. Failure to reasonable explain your breach of protocol will result in a disavowment from the bounty hunter's guild."

Koll chuckled to himself. "Sasa, did you hear that? They're kicking me out."

She laughed at the top of her lungs even as the ship went into a full revolution, nearly throwing her out of her seat. "Well, at least you gave it a shot."

The young bounty hunter's face was pale. "They're-they're not talking about me, are they?"

The _Star Orchid _was charging towards another intersection of tunnels, and even before they'd passed it Koll got that feeling in his chest that any second another ship would pass right in front of them and they'd crash into it.

"Hold on," he brought the _Orchid _down low enough to scrape its belly across the bottom of the tunnel, giving it just enough space to pass directly beneath a freighter crossing their tunnel. Sasa let out a howl of excitement and Koll couldn't take his grin off his face. It was too exciting.

Behind them the young bounty hunter was sprawled out on the floor, clinging to the bottom of Sasa's chair for his life, praying to some god neither of them had ever heard of.

"Relax, kid, we're almost out of here," Koll said over his shoulder.

Just then the comm unit came alive again. "Shuttle _Star Orchid_; all tunnels have been sealed. There is no escape. Land your vessel now."

Koll made a mock look of dissapointment. "And things were just starting to get funny."

Sasa laughed again. "Honey, they don't know your sense of humor like I do."

"Guess we'll have to make our own tunnel," Koll dropped the shuttle into a tunnel that continued straight for miles through the _Jamaryndo_'s infrastructure, "brace yourselves."

"What!" the young bounty hunter cried.

The_ Star Orchid _proved she hadn't reached full speed yet as Koll rammed the ship down the tunnel, flying at an insane speed directly for a dead end. Another ship was flying ahead of them at slower speed, obviously confused why it's tunnel was sealed.

Koll slammed his shuttle directly into the stern of the slower ship, it's engines instantly dying. Now pushing another ship as a dead weight, Koll pressed his throttle up even more. The ship filled up most of their viewscreen, blocking Koll's vision. He closed his eyes and relied on the Force for guidance.

With only a few hundred yards to the sealed tunnel Koll cut all power to his engines and punched in the small retro engines, stopping the _Orchid _instantly. The ship being pushed continued to fly down the tunnel, however, exploding against the sealed tunnel exit in a great ball of fire.

When the flames died out, Koll could see stars shimmering through the gap of the new tunnel exit the other ship had reluctantly made for him.

Koll throttled up again and the _Star Orchid _exited the _Jamaryndo _victoriously. The instant they were outside, the larger ship's turbolasers started firing at them, lighting up the space around them with red flashes.

Koll sent the _Orchid _into a series of reckless spirals while putting as much distance as he could between them and the _Jamaryndo_. A pre-logged set of hyperspace coordinates awaited use and Koll pulled back on the hyperspace lever as soon as they were clear of the last turbolaser blasts.

The stars outside the viewscreen extended into steaks of light as the _Star Orchid _blasted away safely into hyperspace.

Koll fell back into his seat, sweat covering his face. "Well, that was exciting." He looked over at his face, an exhausted smile on his face. "Think they'll have us back next month?"

Sasa chuckled, relief across her face. She reached out her hand and caressed Koll's cheek. "Another great escape by the great Koll Riokon," she said lovingly.

Koll shrugged and his smile turned smug. "Leaving a _good _bad impression is not as easy as it seems, you know."

Behind them, the young bounty hunter managed to get back on his feet, supporting himself on their neckrests, color slowly returning to his face. "Riokon?" the young hunter asked.

Koll looked back to face the hunter. "Yes?"

The young man smiled with great enthusiasm, a sudden bashful awkwardness to his nature, like someone put before their greatest idol. "You're Koll Riokon?"

"Yes," he answered, finding it odd someone would know his name inside the known Galaxy, "how do you know my name?"

"Well, we've never met. But you met my father a long time ago."

Koll remembered feeling something was familiar about the boy, but he'd been through so many faces in his life that it happened more frequently that he liked. "Who was your father?"

"Jodu, General. Jodu Shao."

Koll thought he recognized the last name, and his mind leap-hopped backwards through his memory to locate a frame in which that name might have been uttered.

He found one. "The Shao family. On Kudark." The memory alone brought an earnest smile to his face. "Yes, I believe I do remember. But you were only a small boy back then."

The boy blushed. "Yeah, I wasn't much to speak of. But I sure remembered you. He talked a lot about you. Koll Riokon, the great Jedi savior."

The irony wasn't lost on Riokon, but neither was his smile. Ten years back, during their runs in the Unknown Regions they'd found hire on Kudark. The planet was in a state of civil war, several countries had neglected decades of peace and had started fighting each other for supremecy of the planet. Koll had fought along with his soldiers for the regent of one sector, in a glorious battle across grasslands.

The zone of engagement was not neutral territory. The opposistion had chosen a sector where many farmers earned a good living off the land. The proximity to civilians made it impossible for the regent to use heavy artillery. Koll had come across one of these farms during the battle, and apparently left a lasting impression on the Shao family that had lived there.

"We won the battle," Koll said absently, reminding himself of a past victory, "what's your name?"

"Isak. Isak Shao," the boy answered.

"Pleased to meet you, Isak. I hope it wasn't too short-lived a peace."

Isak shrugged. "There are still skirmishes, but none like the one you took part in."

Sasa had listened to their conversation with great interest, liking the image Isak had painted of her husband. And the pride on Koll's face. "What are you doing this far away from Kudark, young Isak?"

The young man aged ten years in a second. "Farming wasn't my thing. My parents never approved but we left off on good terms. I've tried for some years to get in touch with your group, but no one's heard from you in the last two years."

Koll smiled smugly. "We've been busy."

"I guess," Isak said, "I've earned a few credits off bounty hunting. Even got my own ship, a real beauty."

Koll felt sad. "I...imagine that ship is still back on the _Jamaryndo_."

Isak shrugged. "It's alright. With the credits you're promising I can buy a new one. I've already made a small reputation for myself out here in the Unknown Regions."

Koll nodded. "And you've been outside of it too."

"How'd you know?"

Koll looked at the stars shooting by outside of the viewscreen. "You wouldn't be calling it the Unknown Regions, if you hadn't. You would have called it _home_."

Isak looked unaffected. "No...not really. People like me don't have a home. My only home is the battlefield."

Those words, though he himself might have ventured them once, suddenly fell flat and ignorant. "War and combat is no place to raise a family, young Isak," he said, feeling like he was talking to a younger version of himself. "Why have you chosen this line of work?"

Isak looked dissapointed. "Just making a living."

Sasa leaned back in her seat. "There are other things you could be doing, safer things."

Isak shook his head. "I don't want to die knowing I've lived a safe life. I want to die knowing I've _lived_."

Koll didn't feel like looking at the young boy. "Why bounty hunting?"

Isak shrugged. "You travel a lot. Meet interesting people. Make lots of money."

"Is the money that important?" Sasa asked.

Isak looked at her hard. "You know those people who say that money aren't important, that they could easily survive on nothing? Money isn't important, but it makes a lot of problems a lot smaller. That's all it does. Money is a luxury. I don't want to worry about bills, or payments. I don't want to keep my eye on my account each week. I want to know that I have nothing to worry about - "

Koll burst in. "Is that why you dress head to toe in latest fashion?"

Isak blushed slightly, it was hard for him to hide the fact that he was in many ways still a young boy, though he tried his best to look and sound harder than he was. "In this business you have to look succesful as well as be succesful. People won't hire you to hunt someone across the galaxy if you look like you can barely afford a taxi to the spaceport. We can't all walk around dressed in Mandalorian armor all the time, you know?"

Koll glanced briefly over his shoulder at Isak. "You want to be the best then?"

"This is what I do. I might as well try to be the best that I can."

Though she didn't look convinced, Sasa gave him a nod. "That's a smart philosophy."

Isak smiled proudly. "I'll tell ya, if more people were as smart as me, this galaxy would be in a lot better shape."

"And better dressed too," Sasa said with a smile.

Koll knew Sasa meant well, or at least he thought that was what she was doing, but the whole situation left a vile taste at the back of his throat. He reached out to the Force for patience and clarity, but the moment he tried he realized he could just put the young Isak to sleep instead.

Isak dropped down on his back on the floor, instantly asleep.

Sasa didn't react to Isak's sudden dozing off. She reclined in her seat and hugged herself. "Changed your mind?"

Koll was very disillusioned, shaking his head at himself. "I was expecting a fool."

She nodded. "Instead you got someone alive because of us, someone we helped."

Koll leaned forward, massaging his temples. "He just needs guidance."

Sasa's voice became blunt. "We don't have time for taking on any more learners, remember? Come on, Koll. I thought we saw eye to eye on this. No more."

He knew, he knew, it just wasn't that easy when he was face to face with the reality of such a decision. "In the world we're trying to build, kids like him are going to get eaten alive."

She leaned over and squeezed his shoulder, giving him some comfort. "That's something you'll have to get used to. I thought you already understood this. You were the one talking about how others weakened us."

Koll held onto her hand, trying to smile. "Maybe I'm the fool."

"No, you're just a little too human for your own good." She kissed his forehead and rose from her seat. "Where are we going?"

"The origin of the Sith's signal," he smiled and let out a small laugh, "and in a way, our second honeymoon."

Her face brightened. "Elemos?"

He nodded. "Exactly. That's where the signal is coming from."

She raised an eyebrow. "Strange place for a Sith to hide."

"Which makes it even more possible the signal isn't a hoax," he added.

"I suppose," she surpressed a yawn. "It's very empty. How are you going to escape his notice?"

"Well, we have the Republic to thank for that. After we shot down the Republic commando ship on Regana, I had Junn salvage the stealth technology. We managed to outfit this shuttle with that technology."

She whistled. "You had this planned for a long time?"

"No, the stealth drive was an added bonus," he explained, "I wasn't counting on it."

She shook her head. "Don't sell yourself short, Koll. This is what you're good at. You've always been good at seeing oppertunities and connections. That's why you - we - have come this far." She covered her mouth, hiding another yawn. "I'm going to get some sleep." She stepped over Isak on her way out and left him to his pondering.

He remembered a world that made sense, a world where the gifts he'd inherited from the Force were a clear cut line between right and wrong. He'd known, as a Jedi, where his place was, his role. At the edge of his lightsaber's blade he'd fulfilled the will of the Force, and never questioned that will. Much like Raine still claimed to do.

But since his turn to the Dark Side, since Skind's fall, the lines had blurred. He'd had to think further ahead, and he'd built his army so his ideals and his designs could be passed down over many generations. But in terms of knowing if it was right or wrong, he could only trust his own judgement. And that was something that had proved to be the hardest thing in his life.

Espicially when confronted with a young boy, who'd built a life around Koll's own legend. Someone who'd seen the light, but misunderstood it. Someone who'd only taken parts of the truth and freedom he'd tried to show people, and manipulated it into his own reality.

How many others would do the same?

In his nightmares he saw a Galaxy populated by people like Isak, people who had no soul, misguided youths that only cared about themselves. He knew Isak would sooner or later ask if he could join the army, and Koll would have to refuse him. Isak would, not as the boy he was now, never lay down his life for others.

Koll looked up at his reflection in the viewscreen, saw Isak lying on the floor behind him, saw someone sitting over the young boy.

Koll's heart froze.

"She's right, you know."

The chair swirled around and Koll stared in complete denial at Skind Kjoil's ghost, as its shimmering blue form sat bent over Isak, studying the boy as he was sleeping. Slowly Skind's face turned over to look at him, his clear white eyes burning straight through Koll.

"You can't be here," Koll shook his head, "I'm imagining this."

Skind rolled his eyes. "When will you ever learn to listen to others? You _can't _beat me, Koll. I'm here to stay."

Koll didn't understand any of it. "But...your clone was destroyed. We set you free."

Skind shrugged indifferently and straightened up. "Sometimes the nexu doesn't want to leave the pen. I told you I wasn't about to leave you."

"But why? What do you want from me?"

Skind wore his confident smile as he stepped over Isak and took a seat in the co-pilot's chair next to Koll. "It's not about what I want. Although you've deluded yourself into thinking I infact still matter, I don't. This is about what you _need_."

Despite his hatred for the man, Koll found himself beyond the matter of revenge. All of it seemed so far away and he'd wasted enough time in life trying to...well, as the clone himself had put it, bury a dead man again. "What I _need_?"

Skind looked awfully comfortable in the chair, swirling it around at look at the stars shooting by outside, a distant blank look in his eyes. "Remember your earliest teachings, Koll, remember what I've always told you; beware of the Dark Side. It takes a powerful individual such as yourself to wield its power and remain neutral to its poison. It's never been done before, but anger and fear can change all your progress in an instant. Your Dream, this design you've created for the Galaxy, it can fade away as easily as it appeared in your mind."

Koll found himself listening to his Master just as he had in their old days, taking his counsel as truth. "I know...I lost it on Regana."

"You had good intentions, after all you didn't seek out my clone for revenge. He came to you," Skind blinked, "was _brought _to you."

Koll's brows lifted. "So you know. Someone contacted him."

Skind nodded. "Have you found out who your traitor is?"

Koll found it hard to say the name, mostly because he didn't yet believe it to be the name of this traitor. Like Sasa had pointed out, Eknath was also an option. But in Koll's mind Eknath was almost too obvious to be the real traitor. Eknath had been with the army longer than any one else apart from himself and Sasa. "Raine."

Skind's expression didn't change. "You don't believe that."

Koll admitted it was hard to justify. "I think Eknath has objectives of his own, but I don't think he'd betray us."

"You might once have said the same thing about Raine."

Koll didn't know what to say. His Master was right. Maybe that was the easiest answer. To admit that he really didn't know. At least not yet. "I don't know. But I'll know once we reach Anodyn."

Skind's eyes tightened. "Are there no other options? Someone else besides those two that might be a weak link."

"All the others are dead."

The tranquility of his Master's face suddenly went away, and his gloating smile took it's place. "Not all of them."

Koll felt weightless, standing at the brink of something he knew he wasn't going to like. "What are you getting at?"

Skind tilted his head. "Use the Force, Koll. Don't think, feel."

Koll did as instructed, and allowed his mind to delve into the endless currents of the Force. Its energy and clarity brushed away any shadows clouding his mind, balancing him on a needle point of focus. Names and images of faces passed by his inner eye, and not many passed before he found himself looking at his wife's beautiful smile.

His eyes shot open. "Sasa? She couldn't betray me, she loves me."

Skind was facing the stars again, a look of remorse on his face. "It is the fate of every truth to be an object of ridicule when it is first acclaimed. She loved me too, Koll. Didn't stop her from wanting to kill me."

"But," Koll found himself starting to slip into a world of thinking he didn't like, "you were a danger, a threat to everything we believed in. A murderer."

"Odd words coming from one about to wipe everything from the face of Coruscant," he said coldly, "think back, Koll; whose idea was it...originally?"

Koll tried to remember the origin of his plans, but it was impossible to find an specific point. It had wandered in his mind for a long time before he'd ever voiced the thoughts out loud. "It was...ours. The both of us."

"Impossible," Skind stabbed that version to death with a single word, "to believe that an idea can come to two minds at the same idea. Don't be a fool, Koll. Who brought it up? Who was the first to talk about destroying Coruscant, about returning, about the revolution?"

Koll opened his mouth, prepared to defend himself. But the words he wanted to say he just couldn't. The safety net that Sasa's love had created around him was gone and for the moment the world seemed a very cold and lonely place. "She..."

Skind nodded to him, a look of regret in his eyes. "I'll leave you to your thoughts." Skind faded from existance and the chair next to Koll sat empty.

Koll leaned back in his own chair, listening to the click and hum of the machinery around him, concentrating on the ambient noise of the _Star Orchid _to keep himself from going down the line of thought that Skind had brought to him.

He stared at the chair Skind had sat in, and the feeling his old Master had provoked in him brought anger floating up to his surface. Koll locked his right hand and punched the headrest on the other chair, venting his frustration.

"Damn it!"

* * *

Lying flat on the dais of the cloning facility, Kast had stripped away the heaviest of his gear. There was no point in carrying it around anymore, there were no enemies left and he was buried alive beneath tons of snow and the carcass of a massive repair yard. He'd disattached the light fixture appendage from his rifle and placed it on the nearby floor, aiming its cone shaped illumination at the ceiling high above. It wasn't much, but it allowed him to see his surroundings.

His savior, a woman wearing outdated Mandalorian armor, walked along the furthest rim of the light's span, deep in thought, occasionally muttering to herself. She'd explained her situation to him, that she had once been part of the Sons of Destiny and that she'd defected following an injury she'd sustained during the initial fighting.

He wasn't sure if he was glad she was there, she'd saved his life but most of all he just wanted to be alone.

He turned his head while he laid there, looking at her over his shoulder. "The mission is a failure." Saying the words he'd been trained to never to have to say felt more wrong than he could imagine. "My team's dead. We're all that's left."

Junn's eyes were deep in thought, mixed with a mournful and sad look in his eyes. "There's still a responsibility."

Kast barred his teeth. "They are _dead_."

She remained composed. "And we're not."

Kast closed his eyes, feeling another avalanche of tears on their way. Memories of his missions with the group sprung to life before his eyes, moments of cheerful laughter, of the comradeship that went between them all in combat, of protecting each other and watching out for one another.

He sat up, eying her out the corner of his perception. All those sacred moments were gone now, and Kast was alone. He felt more angered than he'd ever felt and what made it so bad was the fact that there was no one to blame, no one to shoot back at. No one to kill to soothe his pain and conscience.

Or…maybe there was.

Out of nowhere anger wrapped around his insides, and he looked over at Junn, his rifle following his eyes and aiming the rifle at her. Kast didn't know why he'd done it, but somehow it felt appropriate.

Junn slowly raised her palms over her head. Kast got up and slowly stepped forward, keeping the rifle aimed at the woman. Kast had his doubts about his own abilities of being able to dent her amor, but it felt good to aim the rifle at someone again.

His guilt slowly dissipated.

"The person that did in my team," Kast pressed the rifle's end against his shoulder and felt silent pleasure in seeing her face down the barrel, "he was one of yours. That Raine guy. The Jedi Master. He killed them. He killed my team because he wanted Kal. You're about to tell me why."

Junn kept her hands in the air. "If you'd lower your weapon, I'd gladly - "

"I wanna know, right now!" Kast felt his finger touch the trigger, pressing it back ever so slowly. "Tell me!"

Junn's face went grim with grief. The woman looked through Kast, her mind elsewhere. Kast wanted to believe the woman was thinking the events through trying to find an answer to them, and he liked that. He wanted an answer.

In the end Junn looked at him again, a hurtful look in her eyes. "I can't honestly say. But I know Raine well enough to know he didn't kill them in cold blood." Junn's face changed back into its invincible shape, that confident stare. "But no matter what happened, _I _wasn't the one who killed them."

Kast held his aim, wanting more than anything to avenge his friends. But something told him that killing Junn wouldn't bring them back, and it wouldn't keep him alive either. Deciding to trust Junn was hard but he knew that the woman had saved his life. And if there still was a way off of Regana, he felt Junn was his best bet.

He lowered the rifle. "I'm sorry," he lowered his head as well, "you gotta understand. My unit were my only friends, my family. I just everything I ever had to a man who should have been fighting on my side."

She lowered her hands. "I understand better than you think. To you we might have just been another enemy, but the Sons of Destiny encouraged the feeling of family that you had with your teammates. I've lost many brothers, and its never been easy. Were they your first unit?"

Kast dropped down on the dais's steps. "There's been a few switches. But we've remained intact over the last few years. It's funny, we talked about defecting from the Republic but Kal convinced us to keep fighting. I want to blame him for getting my teammates killed, but he meant well. I just can't see what difference we did."

"The war isn't over yet," she said firmly, checking her gauntlet, apparently reading some incoming message, "oh, this may sound a little strange to you."

Kast ran his hand over his short hair. "Yeah, what's that?"

"That Raine guy..." she said, a strange tone in her voice.

Kast looked over at her. "Yeah."

"He's on his way."

His world lit up with the prospect of revenge. "Really?" He brought his rifle back to the front. "Well, he's welcome."

Junn walked over with decisive steps and hunched down in front of him. "Listen to me; he is not an enemy. Not _our _enemy. He can help us. We need him."

Kast brushed her aside as he stood. "Save it."

"No, Kast," she implored. "You have to listen to him. He can explain what happened. Give him a chance. I know this man, we can trust him."

Kast checked the clip in his rifle and bent his neck, releasing a loud crack. "Nothing he's going to say will change what he did."

The caved-in doorway into the cloning facility started to buckle, trembling as something powerful on the opposite side was pushing it inward, slowly dissambling the blockade. Kast brought his rifle up to his shoulder, aiming at the center of the rubble, waiting for a face to show in between the boulders as they fell away.

Tension rode up his shoulders and arms, a feeling of fear. He'd tried fighting this guy before and lost terribly. But he knew now that it didn't matter if he lost. All he had to do was try. He owed it to his brothers, to his family.

He slowed his breathing, keeping the rifle steady. "Come on out," he whispered to himself.

"You leave me no choice," she said behind him.

Kast swirled the rifle around at her, but she caught it at the wrist before it could aim at her. Her armored hand wrapped around the barrel and pulled it out of his grip, swinging around to slam it across his face.

His face exploded in pain and his vision clouded into darkness even before he'd touched down on the floor. He managed to feel a small hope that this was infact the end of his road, and willingly submitted his consciousness to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Raine noticed Kast lying on the floor, prompting a slight smile. The old Jedi Master dusted off his cloak, careful not to touch his wound. "I'm glad you kept him alive."

Junn sat down on the stairs of the dais, looking very comfortable in her heavy Mandalorian armor. "There's no point in killing him. Like the rest of us he's caught up in the design of others. And...he's a good soldier."

"The Eulogy I knew wouldn't have been so open-minded."

Junn's eyes hardened. "Eulogy made her own." She looked at Kast's unconscious body. "He knows how to fight...and he's beginning to learn _why _to fight. Apart from his training and his missions he knows nothing of the outside world. It's become routine, soulless."

Raine paid special attention to the thoughts going on behind her words. "Like so many of our own were before."

She nodded, her eyes still on Kast. "I began to wonder during my exile. Our own soldiers...they fought for our ideals. But how many of them actually believed in it? How many of our own were soullessly following the ideas of others? Did I?" She looked at him. "Are you?"

He hugged himself. "Same thoughts have haunted me. There is no shield that propels doubting oneself."

She looked down at her boots. "I also was brought into the army...and was told the fables. The philosophy behind our strength. Our good will. Our benign intentions. But none of it kept us from getting infiltrated by corrupt selfish forces. We believed our objectives were condoned by the Force, that we were doing what destiny could not. But if that was true, how could we be infected? How could we be defeated?"

Raine could hear the despair in her voice, and tried his best not to let it affect him. "We were betrayed...by someone inside," he blinked, "or more."

She looked up. "More?"

"I am not entirely convinced that Eknath is the only rotten seed. It makes no sense that he had the clone brought to Coruscant if only to kill him, since his plan was to kill the clone so Koll could continue our plans."

"Then...who?"

Raine shook his head. "I don't know. The Kjoil apprentice told me he'd talked to Dokyan on Coruscant, the Bothan we used to hire Jovis and his men. Dokyan told him strange things, he said the Sons of Destiny had been using him for years to manipulate certain officials within the Republic. A lie design to manipulate Rishi in itself, I suspect."

"To get him out here?"

The Jedi Master nodded. "But also to spawn a resentment towards the Republic, which I believe has made it easier for Eknath to recruit him. However I'm not convinced Rishi is completely lost yet."

She sat up straight. "What happened on the _Masamune_?"

"I think Eknath finally decided I was too close to him, too much of a threat. He called me out, but Rishi managed to save me."

"By hurting you?"

"If Rishi had wanted to kill me, he would have done so. Kal will be safe as long as Rishi is watching over him."

"But what does Eknath want Rishi for, really?"

"Eknath still has the destruction of Coruscant and the liberation of this Galaxy in mind, but I feel he is going to use Rishi and the Kjoil refugees as a vector. Eknath has taken the Sons of Destiny into his own hands, forming his own plan."

She looked lost. "I think Eknath doesn't know the difference between liberation and domination."

"We never wanted to enforce a truth, we only wanted to project safety onto those unable to find their own truths. We weren't made to bring truth to others, only to let them have the time and ability to find it on their own. A safe world, a peaceful existance." He said those hopeful words with great sadness. "Eknath was valuable as a player, but he is not a graceful winner."

Junn nodded in agreement. "And Rishi isn't exactly a benifitial vector, neither."

"Not with Eknath as a teacher."

"Not at all," she added, a grim tone to her voice. "Rishi is a threat by himself."

Raine didn't understand. "Rishi? No, no, he's just unschooled. I doubt Eknath will be able to convert him."

She stood up slowly, a determined yet wary look in her eye. "So what happens now?"

Raine shook his head, a lament on his face. "I'm a fool, my girl. I predicted this moment, I saw it coming but I didn't prepare. I haven't had much time to proper contemplate our escape. There are no ships, and the station above is completely devastated. No communication."

"So we're stuck here?"

Raine chuckled genuinely. "A reborn warrior princess, a Jedi Master and a Republic commando; we should be able to find a way."

She didn't seem convinced. "Maybe if we traded in the Republic commando for a ship maker," her eyes lit up as a thought occured to her, "wait."

Junn ran to the commando's side, rolled him over on his back and snatched the helmet off his head. The internal HUD was still working, though it looked very inactive. Junn was used to wearing Sons of Destiny armor so she easily worked her way through its functions.

Raine looked at her puzzled. "What are you looking for? His helmet's broadcast range can't reach Coruscant."

"No," she muttered while operating the helmet with her hand inside of it, "not without a midway link."

"The orbital repair yards? I doubt the helmet could reach even them."

"No," she said again, this time with a smile. "Not without a midway link."

He raised his eyebrows. "Such as?"

The helmet came alive with sound. Frantic droid-like chirping and beeping. Junn smiled brilliantly and pulled on the helmet. For many moments she moved her head around as if she was talking to someone, though so sound reached outside of the helmet. Raine regarded her with interest though perplexed by what she believed to have found.

After a lenghty conversation she finally took off the helmet. "Its the RATM. The commandos used it as a scout vehicile, its a droid with - "

"I know what an RATM is," he said kindly, "can it make contact?"

"It had already sent a distress signal to Coruscant, but its not sure if it is going to reach them. Apparently it believes its best bet is the abandoned recon team's..." she could read by his eyes he didn't know what she was talking about. "Alright, the Republic sent in a reconaisance group before the commandos. We took them out, but left their equipment behind. They had long range broadcast capabilities."

He lightened, but didn't seem overrun with relief. "Good. Let's hope that works out," his eyes wandered, "still, it will take some time for the Republic to reach us. And there's no telling how they are going to react to what we have to say."

She dampened. "You're right...we should consider our next move."

Raine closed his cloak around him and leaned back, almost lying down across the stairs. "All we really need is to warn the Republic of what is going to happen - "

"What?" she said. "Warn them about our plans? Warn them about Coruscant's destruction?"

Raine took in a hard breath. "I think so. I'm sure at some point you must have wavered as well regarding the multitude or the nessicity of our plans. You're not that cold-blooded, Junn."

Her lips opened and closed. "But...we can't. The mission has to go on. We can't stop now."

Raine made a temple out his hands. "Stopping Eknath is all that matters. And to stop him we have to get out of here. To get out of here we need the Republic."

Her eyes scanned the floor, looking for an answer somewhere beyond it. "Maybe not."

"No one else is going to come to our aid, Junn. No one would react to such a transmission. There are no settlements nearby, and all ships have been warned to stay out of the region."

She looked at him, slightly furious. "Are you giving up? Just going to lay there and die?"

"Oh, no," he chuckled warmly, "no, the Force still seems to be with me. Only...it seems to have lost much of its old interest in this old fool."

She couldn't help laughing at his dry wit. "Fair enough."

Raine kept his smile. "Go back to your previous line of thought. You had someone particular in mind."

She stood up. "I do," she turned apprenhensive, "only it's going to take more than just the RATM."

"Oh?"

She nodded to him and started walking around the chamber. "I know something. I learned it when the clone brought me back to life, when he made me receptive to the Force. And in that; I have found not only myself but also an objective only I can accomplish. But I will need your help, Master Raine."

"What is this objective?"

"I have been helping Rishi during my exile, I've talked directly to him using the Force. I've tried to help him understand his place in all of this, but he proved too stubborn for me to have an effect." She turned away and faced the cloning tank, a full-grown specimen hibernating inside. "I promised Rishi I would bring him someone that he would listen to. Someone that can steer his path away from the darkness he is headed for," she walked up onto the dais, her fingers operating the controls, "and I can't do it alone."

* * *

The chamber Eknath had chosen as their training grounds was a simple one, the _Masamune _offered little in the ways of luxury. The very same chamber that him and Kal had sparred in, the one with a depression that was oddly enough perfectly suited as a duel circle. Rishi wore only a pair of loosely fitting pants, bare chest and feet, as he made a small display of lightsaber fighting against a primitive training droid. Eknath had supplied it with two red lightsabers and despite its bulky form it provided an uneven, but interesting challenge.

Rishi fought with just the single blade, his old Master's with the green crystal. As he fought Eknath walked in a circle around the depression, reciting old lectures and sharing his archaic knowledge of the Force.

Rishi knew his ploy was dangerous. He wasn't going to give himself fully to Eknath, but he was going to allow the man to teach him, to bring him closer to his potential power. He knew no other place to find the keys to this knowledge and he felt confident he could resist any mind-trick that Eknath might employ.

He'd seen what had happened to the boy, Tragedy, back on Regana and he wasn't about to follow suit.

He could already feel Eknath in his mind, a haunting presence in the back of his soul, one that never looked away, one that always listened. Rishi couldn't see him but he knew he was there. The ever present shadow, a soothing moral compass.

He struggled hard not to look out to his left and see the shadow there. He knew this was an important portion of his mission, he knew what he had to do, he knew the part he was assigned, but his youth and impatience was making it very difficult. He was shaking with fear, but he refused to let it show. It propably did show but his determination told him not to think about it.

"Calm, my apprentice," Eknath said soothingly, "use it. Find the strength that lies in your fear and use it upon your enemy."

His heart pounded against his chest rapidly. "My fear is not this droid," the droid lunged at him at that moment, twin blades chrashing against his defenses, "well, not all the way."

Eknath opened his hands. "Then tell me; what is it you fear?"

Rishi felt like he was being choked. He could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead, soaking his brows. He summoned all the courage he could, and all the answers. "I don't know."

Eknath's eyes tightened, a skeptical look on his face. "Then how do you expect to grow?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Eknath moved in the corner of his eyes. "Yes, you do. Such a thing is never hidden, but only ignored. Use your fear to confront the fear itself. Listen to what it's telling you."

Rishi did so, an answer easily found he realized, once he looked at it so simply. "I'm afraid of failing. Afraid of being a failure."

Eknath nodded. "A common emotion. But first we must define failure. What is failure to you?"

Rishi found he'd never really explored that question. "I...don't know."

Eknath's frustration fell on him, irritation painfully clear. He stopped walking. "Don't waste my time with your ignorance, Rishi. Learn to listen to your own mind. You are better than this. One who never understands himself, can never know the true ways of the Force. It's shape and purpose goes hand in hand with yours."

Rishi batted at the droid with his blade, trying to vent his frustration. "I'm afraid I'll never be all I can be! That I'll never make a difference! That I'll always doubt myself!" his last swing took of the droid's right arm at the shoulder, "and Master Skar!"

Eknath stirred, but said nothing more.

Rishi stood panting, waiting for the droid to regain its courage. "He never believed in me. He never would have let me go if he did." The droid jumped at him with it's single arm and single blade, roaring electronicly. "I want to prove him wrong! I won't make him right!"

Eknath nodded to himself and resumed his cycle. "And you will, my apprentice. I met him, you remember. He was formiddable, but as proven not invincible. Too much power destroyed him. Which is why I'm taking more cautious steps with you." Eknath's eyes returned to Rishi. "You, my flame."

Rishi swallowed the mucus in his mouth. "What must I do?"

"You must remove this image of yourself. You must come to a clean start. Break that inside of you that has now become the walls of your outside world. Learn to think on a wider scale. Realize that you are the only one that limit yourself. You've been using the Dark Side ever since you learned to wield the Force; but now you must embrace it."

Rishi's hands refused to stay still. "How?"

"Now that we have found your fear, you must turn it into anger and hate. You must find yourself an ideal, a goal to which your powers must lead you." Eknath's hands clenched into fists and his chin tightened. "You must find what you want to do with your life."

Rishi felt like he could vomit with exhaustion, his every nerve was shaking, what little clothes he was wearing was soaked with sweat and clung to his skin, making him shiver with cold. And the droid was still pounding on him.

"I don't - " he stopped himself before he could say it. "I haven't found anything yet."

"It is easiest found if you're looking for it," the shadow man said softly. "All that time you spent in the underground of Coruscant, did you ever receive praise from anyone?"

Rishi's old frustration resurfaced. "Nothing," he smashed the droid's blade aside, "Master Skywalker thanked me occasionally, but I doubt he really understood what went into it, or what I was trying to do."

Eknath seemed to understand. "You were one man fighting a rising tide. To their eyes you were just a vigilante."

Rishi ducked beneath a red blade. "I was _trying_."

"With the Sons of Destiny, and a Kjoil army, you _can _succeed. After you defeat the alien invasion, your reputation and legend will wipe Skywalker's academy from recognition, and you will emerge as the true master of the Force. The true origin of a New Order...if you want such a thing to exist."

The thoughts filled Rishi's head with tangible ideas, possible futures. Things he would be able to do. But he also knew these promises were just the bait that Eknath favored utilizing. However, that didn't mean he couldn't achieve that power, he only had to be cautious of the line between being the user and the used. Rishi returned to his present surroundings, looking at the droid advancing on him.

Fed up with draining himself against the dumb mechanical creature, he sidestepped as the droid reached him and swiped his blade across the back its legs, dropping it in a single stroke. The droid tried to stand again but failed. Its limbs died and light drained from its eyes. Rishi silenced his lightsaber.

"Coruscant isn't done for," he said defiantely, "I don't think so. And I won't help you destroy it."

Eknath stepped down the stairs and stood behind Rishi, placing his palms reassuringly on his shoulders. "That was the Sons of Destiny's plan, and although you remain one, as I do, you and I now shape the things to come."

Rishi arched an eyebrow. "You don't intend to destroy it?"

Eknath shook his head. "No, my boy. I'll leave that entirely to General Riokon."

"But why?"

Eknath sighed. "You have to understand the boundries of our responsibility. What Koll intends to do is needed. He will take this Galaxy one planet at a time, and he is going to continue until everything falls within his reach, until there is no corner of the universe left that doesn't know his name. This; Regana, Coruscant, it's nothing but a drop in the ocean of what he wants to acheive. They _have _the power, they are motivated and they are patient. You've seen what they've done already."

Rishi refused to believe it could be so final. "Something will stop them...sooner or later, something will stop them."

Eknath shrugged. "Maybe, many years from now, perhaps. But it won't stop them from destroying Coruscant. You should see their fleet. Its greater than anything amassed at Coruscant...and Coruscant _will _fall."

Rishi remained strong. "Maybe...but not to you."

A glimmer of despair passed Eknath's eyes. "Rishi, I have no interest in the destruction of Coruscant. But the event will spawn a desire for survival in everyone living in this Galaxy. They will be cast into a brief period of civil war, which will harden them for the coming times. Our more urgent matter is the alien invasion. We must prepare your Kjoil warriors for that battle, since they will save the day."

Rishi turned, breaking Eknath's grip on his shoulders. "I'm scared...what if we're wrong?"

Eknath's eyes were like daggers. "Wrong?"

"We weren't given this role, we took it upon ourselves. We _decided _that we would decide for everyone."

Eknath laughed sharply. "And such a decision takes courage, Rishi. Courage you will find in time. The courage that is needed to keep our Galaxy safe from the coming invasion."

Rishi sighed. Time was slipping out of his hands, and he felt nowhere ready to tackle the responsibility. But he had to.

No one else could.

"Yes," Eknath said, addressing his thoughts, "you and I, Rishi. We are the only ones that can save this Galaxy."

Rishi could himself starting to shudder. "I - "

"No, Rishi. You are not alone in this," Eknath's voice was strangely warm and kind, "you will never be alone again. Together I will help you govern your anger and your hate, the sword and shield that will keep this Galaxy safe from harm."

Using the Force Eknath reached out to the droid carcass next to them, the droid's lightsaber hovered up into the air, disassembling itself by magic. The handle and electronic parts dropped back down onto the floor, but the crystals remained.

Rishi plucked the red crystal from the air and enclosed it in his fist.

"One man..._can _change the world," Eknath said, "your Master lacked the courage to even try. He became lost inside of himself, which is why he was never meant to be the symbol that you will be. This world will know peace again, but only if you commit yourself to the Dark Side."

* * *

Elemos was an aquatic world, a world where the surface was dominated by tranquil seas, with only a few scattered continents. The people of Elemos were by a very large margin similiar to the Mon Calamari, a peaceful race with high regard for nature and their eyes aimed at the stars.

They'd constructed massive floating cities over the course of their evolution and their planet was reknown in the Unknown Regions as a neutral zone, a world that had never seen the face of war. A world respected for its beauty and hospitable natives.

In return for valuable minerals Elemos received massive funding and technological aid that had helped create the gargantuan cities that drifted across the sea like independent packs of nomads. The cities were not at war or rivalry with each other, every chance meeting between two communities was greeted with open arms on both sides, often resulting in many days spent together, celebrating and sharing stories of their adventures upon the seas.

The people of Elemos were very hospitable and eager to comune and learn from outside parties, offworlders that occasionally made their way through Elemos' wandering spaceports. They were by far the warmest species that Koll had ever met, and burning the candle talking to an Elemosian was an oppertunity he'd told many over the years that shouldn't be underestimated.

Although they'd built spaceports at the heart of their massive cities they rarely journeyed offworld themselves. Few had since they'd mastered spacetravel, and even these few had always returned. Koll admired them for their love for their home, their thick ties to their own planet, possesing a calm that he had long wished to have for himself.

Sasa and him had spent their honeymoon on Elemos many years ago, seeking to install themselves upon the few continents on Elemos, eager for time alone. But they'd soon learned the true charm of Elemos was onboard the floating cities, sharing in the warmth and joyous companionship of the Elemosians.

"This is probably where he's hidden all this time," Sasa said over the comlink. "This far from the Jedi he wouldn't register in the Force."

Koll looked up, seeing the _Star Orchid _hovering over him as he hugged himself to the communications mast at the top of the city's greatest spire. Each city had a handful of mile high spires that mainly supported communications between the cities. Since they had no satellites to boast their signal they had to rely on primitive signal relays.

This city had five spires; the smallest only two or three miles high, while the largest was five miles. It was designed to withstand powerful winds and looking down Koll could see the city at the bottom of the spire no longer than a dinner plate. In actuality the cities were almost the size of a Super Star Destroyer.

"Even we have never sensed him," Koll answered. "Sasa, land the ship at the spaceport. I want you and Isak to check out the city itself. Ask around, see what you can find out. I'll pay a visit to the administrator."

She chuckled. "Good old Witarm. Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't see himself myself."

"I will."

Isak cut in. "Hey, leave some for me, will you? I know you didn't bring me along for my powers of conversation."

Koll frowned against the cold beating him. "Do as Sasa instructs. Stray from your objective and you'll quickly find yourself at the bottom of the sea, got it?"

"Yeah, I hear ya," Isak replied dryly.

"I'll talk to you later," Koll signed off and the _Star Orchid _sailed away from the spire, turned its nose downwards and soon faded away among the clouds breaking upon the spire. Koll watched with a feeling of unrest. He didn't believe Sasa to be in any danger, or at least didn't sense any danger around her. But with a Sith Lord somewhere in the city, such things were never certain.

As Koll started climbing down the side of the spire, using the Force to block out the fact that a single misstep would kill him, his feet and arms worked at a speed some would deem insanely reckless for someone in his position. The Force allowed him to tune out of his own body and remove himself from the danger of it.

Instead he settled his focus on another matter. Isak's immaturity bothered him. He was an amazing gunfighter, a skill that had kept him alive and wealthy all his short life. He was a lot younger than Koll, but somehow he'd come to the same cynical wisdom regarding the world he lived in. Despite all his success and reputation he still had flashes of insecurity that primarily showed in his vanity.

He was always competing with himself, since he'd by far outmatched any living gunman. Koll had tried to explain to him that as long as he battled himself he would never win. And every time Isak would nod and say that he understood but the battle would still rage.

The boy also had an obsession with his own looks, another defect of his vanity, spending all his money on stylish clothing, believing that it wasn't enough to be the best if he didn't look his best. When he wasn't polishing his guns he was polishing his leather boots or combing his slick black hair. Koll picked on him about it, and although he caught glances of embarrasment from the young man the grooming never stopped.

Koll had given up trying to help Isak overcome his insecurity, and instead focused on just being the best companion he could. Isak and him weren't going to become friends, Koll wouldn't allow that to happen for reasons he kept to himself. It was strictly business. Elemos might turn out to be quite dangerous and he felt safer having one of the best mercenaries on his side.

Isak seemed enchanted with the idea, going to spend time where he'd get, if things turned out as expected, plenty of chances to show his skills with a blaster. But Koll wasn't completely infatuated with the idea of someone so young being so succesful in such a dangerous field. Maturity usually bred the wisest of all beings, and it was the one thing that Isak didn't have in abundance.

Koll wasn't sure if the matter bothered him because his wife was alone with the boy, or because he in part blamed himself for Isak. The boy had been influenced by the Sons of Destiny's visit to his homeworld; how many other Isaks roamed the spaceways? Just like the waves bouncing off the giant city far below him, how much suffering had he produced by just making his own way through life?

And then of course there was the matter of Skind's last words, putting blame upon Sasa's shoulders, claiming her to be a traitor. _The _traitor inside of their group that had called the clone to Regana, resulting in the deaths of so many of their men. Was it possible? No. Was it plausible? That, he was afraid, was true.

It could have happened. If Sasa had hidden it well enough from him, she could have called the clone to Regana for a last meeting with her dead brother. Who could blame anyone the chance of seeing once again the eyes of a lost loved one? It frightened Koll, and even startled him that he had been unable to think of it before. Her and him were the core, anyone else was a possibility.

She _could not _be a traitor.

Koll slammed his lightsaber into the side of the spire with all the frustration bubbling inside of him, carving a circle and kicking it in. Ducking inside he crawled through a set of chutes that put him directly above the antechamber to the administrator's office. The spire itself had only the administrator's office and a lift that reached it. Why anyone would choose to station their command post at that level eluded him, if not for the fact that it must've offered a magnificent view.

He dropped inside the antechamber and adjusted his coat before activating the door's controls. The administrator's office had always been an impressive piece of architecture. Apart from a single desk and a chair, no other furniture could be found. The walls sloped inwards like the inside of a pyramid and the far wall, behind the desk, was one large sheet of glass with an intersecting pattern that resembled a spiderweb.

The door sealed behind him.

"Koll...Riokon, is it?" asked a familiar voice from the chair. The sunlight outside shaded the man sitting there in complete darkness. "My stars, it has been too long."

Koll felt young again hearing that old voice and his body bowed by reflex.

"Please, no bowing between friends," Witarm said as he slowly got out of his chair. "You honor me more by greeting me as your equal."

Koll maintaine his bow. "You are my instructor first."

"Those days are long gone, Craven," Witarm said as he walked from his desk to reach Koll. "Older than you and almost as old as me."

Koll straigthened out. "We're still here."

"But we too will someday fade into nothing but memory. And something tells me, I will be the first to turn vapor." Witarm was not an Elemosian. He'd first come to Elemos as a young man and had decided to stay like so many others. Over the years he'd won the respect of the natives and had become the first non-native to administrate one of their magnificent cities. He wore ceremonial Elemosian garmants especially sown for his physique, but time and the sea had wrinkled his face more than Koll remembered. "I would much rather have you think of me as an old friend."

Koll smiled genuinely. "You know I do, I just - "

"You just want to honor the old days."

That feeling of being young remained. "Yes." Many years ago Koll had met Witarm on his honeymoon and the old man's wisdom had been influential. Koll could not remember his own parents from before he'd been taken to the Jedi Temple, but he liked to think of Witarm as a father.

Witarm waved Koll's humility away. "It's memory. Our honor. It cannot be touched, despite this Galaxy's best efforts. There is no need to beat it senseless."

Koll blushed for the first time in a decade. "Sorry if I...if I seem like a fool."

"No, your dedication moves me," he said with a dry cackle. "But in my age, emotions are easily exaggerated and if I start to cry this old body will dry up faster than I want it to."

His humor rid Koll of his embarrasment. "I'm glad you still keep your wit."

Witarm's eyes narrowed. "You didn't come here for old times sake. You never do."

* * *

The city didn't cater to the dry throats the way most establishments did in the Galaxy. There were no watering holes and no bars. There were areas created for social gathering, but they tended to lean towards the more academic nature of the Elemosians, offering a forum to vent ideas and intellectual notions.

Of course, Isak was far from his natural element in such a place, strutting his way through the quiet tables, blaster dangling from his hip, eager for anyone to gaze upon him with envy or reverence. Sasa stayed in the rear, believing the true answers that they were here to find would be uncovered by Koll. News traveled easily inside the city and the administrator was certainly the best place to start an investigation.

The Elemosians reminded her of Master Yoda, small peaceful creatures that carried great wisdom beneath their shells. Kind, warm beings that felt like planets onto themselves, a lifetime of knowledge in their round bulbous eyes. They seemed to always walk in pairs, never hasty, never running to catch up with an agenda. She envied them, their peace, they were an ode to themselves.

She watched Isak lean in over a table with two chattering Elemosians, putting on his daredevil face.

"The name's Isak, Isak Shao. And I'm looking for a Sith Lord."

Sasa rolled her eyes. Maybe stupidity might just beat Koll to their answers.

* * *

Koll stood at the window, arms crossed over his chest. Outside the clouds were slowly brushing against the glass, folding around it only to invite another cloud. Witarm stood to his left, also admiring the view although Koll was sure its splendor was lost on him after seeing it everyday. He'd told Witarm everything that had happened since their last meeting, leaving nothing out about the army, about Coruscant and the clone.

But the mentioning of a Sith Lord had silenced the old man most effectively.

Witarm breathed out after several minutes of silence, a lost expression on his face. "I had thought my years of introspection," he looked around himself with a look of distaste, "in this tower would have taught me to train my moods."

Koll glanced sidelong at the man. "What do you mean?"

"That I had hoped I would have been able to at least pretend to be surprised."

He turned slightly towards the man. "You knew?"

Witarm nodded. "What surprises me is that you knew. I had never imagined that your paths would cross." He snorted. "Then again, you have been busy since our last encounter." The old man turned away from the window and walked to his chair, grasping the back of the headrest for support. "I always imagined the wisdom I imparted to you would be used for good, Koll, not vengeance."

Koll felt sad that his mentor thought that way of what he was trying to achieve, but he also knew that Witarm came from a world without war, a war that favored having as little to do with the grand Galaxy as possible. In that respect, he certainly couldn't fault him. "You know me well enough to know I wouldn't do it, if I didn't feel it to be for the best."

"Best!" Witarm bellowed. "Who are you to judge one life from another? Who are you to choose the course of a Galaxy?"

"It's not about killing," Koll said calmly, managing to keep anger from his voice, "it's about standing up for what you believe in. I set the stand _here_, or this Galaxy isn't going to make it. The Jedi aren't ready."

Witarm seated himself in the chair and ran his palm over his face. "I chose a life a peaceful pondering, a life of honor and conscience. I hold no great sway over the lives of those living in this city. They've named me administrator, but it is only a title. One I've long since come to think of pointless." He looked over at the window beyond Koll. "I am just the watchman. I only have to act when there is trouble afoot."

Koll nodded. "So do I."

Witarm grimaced. "I remember you telling me about the Emperor. The one who tyrannized and destroyed countless worlds for his own gain. I remember the tone of voice you used when speaking of him, the disgust. Years from now, many will speak of you with that same tone."

He did his best not to think of those who would always regard him as a monster. They would be the few among the billions of lives, among the hundreds of worlds, he'd told himself. But it was strangely enough the same fate that Skind Kjoil's reputation had suffered. Many still spoke of him as a hero, a great warrior. Something made it easy for those to disregard the fact that he had been a Sith Lord, that he'd slaughtered Jedi.

Koll shook his head, fixating on his own reflection in the glass. "I've wasted enough time second-guessing my own eulogy, Witarm."

Witarm made a temple with his fingers, a disconcerted look on his face. "What are you really after? And be honest with me, I have known you for some time. I know how your voice alters when you lie."

Koll wasn't sure what he was implying, but recently Skind had forced him to reevaluate his motives and reasons and he believed to have found an honest answer. A just answer at the very least.

"In the old days, before the Republic was corrupted and destroyed, we Jedi were revered. We were glorified. People looked to us as saviors, and although we were trained never to think of ourselves as heroes, we still were. We were proud, we were the guardians of an entire Galaxy. The world needed us."

Witarm nodded solemnly. "And those days are gone now."

Koll couldn't deny it. "We are still needed, but too much stands in our way. The Republic is still corrupt, a mere shadow of its former incarnation."

Witarm's right eyebrow lifted. "Oh. And so you're out here on Elemos to make a hero of yourself again, is that it?"

He felt the words hit a mark he'd often avoided. A dreadful fear in him that dreamed and desired conquest. The warrior in him, the proud man that had been kept in the dark for too long. A man who had only so much time before Death would claim him before he could have his due. "Maybe...maybe it is a part of it. I believe this world needs heroes. It needs people willing to do whatever it takes. It needs figures, not senates. New symbols. Unbreakable ideals."

"But someone is out to steal your glory," Witarm responded with a hint of sly in his voice, "you mentioned a traitor inside your army."

Koll hugged himself, starting to feel interrogated, forced to say and reveal things he wasn't comfortable with. For all his warrior's strength, the idea of a traitor so close to him was hurting him. It was an unfaceable enemy. "I...still don't know who it is."

"I think you do" Witarm said, "and I think you came here looking for proof."

Koll suddenly wished he'd never come to Elemos. Witarm was too good at striking where it hurt. He was too good at finding the truth. "Maybe. I find it too strange to be a coincidence. We had our honeymoon here - "

"Ah," Witarm faked surprise, "so it is Sasa you suspect."

Koll exhaled all his lungs contained. "I have to suspect everyone. Things have gone too far for me to overlook any possibility. I'm almost there..." his right hand made a fist, "at the edge of success."

"And now this Sith Lord."

Koll felt so weak, so powerless, so useless. A part of him had hoped Witarm would have applauded his mission, his crusade. If he had then Koll would have known without doubt that it was the right thing to do. All of his plans and all of his strength shattered at that moment. "I was hoping by finding the Sith Lord I could find out who the real traitor is."

Witarm rose from his chair and slowly walked to stand behind Koll. "Consider that maybe the real traitor to your cause is yourself. You didn't come here for evidence. You came here to fight a Sith Lord. You were cheated out of killing your own Master, so now you've come here. You've designed this grand scheme, but Regana left marks on your confidence, didn't it? You're out here to prove yourself again."

Koll sighed. The man misunderstood his intentions completely. He had hoped Witarm would be on his side, that he might join him for the remainder of their mission. He knew now that wasn't going to be. No one could understand it the way he did.

"You came to fight, to do battle, to win. Because its all you really know."

Koll shook his head. "You're wrong."

Witarm held out his arms. "By fighting the entire Galaxy you think you will never find a greater enemy. Listen to yourself; you have no ideal or goal by fighting the Republic. You want to set people free, or so you claim, but there is danger in freedom. Too much freedom will destroy any one. People need walls to understand freedom."

Koll understood that. "I am going to show them the walls - "

"How do you know that going to such lengths," Witarm interrupted, "won't destroy yourself?"

Koll wouldn't turn around to face him, but he could see the old man's reflection in the window, right over his shoulder. "I've lost the need to worry about that."

"Actually, you haven't."

His frustration suddenly took on the face of anger instead. "I thought you would at least understand - "

"Furthermore I can say with confidence," Witarm interrupted again, raising his voice, "that this entire operation is all about you, about your legacy and your image of yourself, and not about the Galaxy's freedom or well being. You live in a dream world, Koll."

"Enough!" Koll spat at the window before him, locking his eyes on Witarm's reflection, "where is the Sith!"

"I am not done talking yet!" Witarm thundered. "And you will listen to me, be it for the first time ever, because you are headed down a dark path that I will not allow to happen!"

Koll felt his own jaw tighten in anger, and had it not been for the old friendship between them and the wisdom he knew Witarm possesed, he would have cut him down right then and there. "Go on, then."

Witarm settled himself, controlling his temper. "I came to this planet a long time ago, a whole lifetime ago, Koll. And I chose to stay here because I know this planet will never see the evils of war. Elemos will never have to raise a sword or construct a blaster, it will never have to worry about its survival. It will never have to consider the foolishness of other worlds to influence its stability. There is no Republic, no Empire, no Sons of Destiny, no east or west, no right or wrong. There is peace."

Koll nodded. "I swear to you my army will never touch - "

"You cannot promise what you cannot hold. You may be the originator of the Sons of Destiny but you will not be their leader for long. At least not in cosmic terms. The Sons of Destiny will live on long after you, for centuries, millenias. Who's to say what shape they will form? Or how their ideals might change?"

Koll opened his mouth to talk, but no words came out. Could that really happen? He'd never been ignorant to the fact that many new men would lead the army for the span they'd reign. He'd never considered the possibilites of how and where the army would be a hundred years from now. It was ignorance on his part, and naive of him to believe it wouldn't change just like the Republic had.

"You're only replacing one monster for another, Koll. And you've lived with war for so long you've lost the ability to remember how you felt when you were first subjected to it. Its crueltly, its brutality. You've become blind to it, because you have always been on the winning side, you've always been on the glorious side. And no matter how much you convince yourself that your ideals are good and true, you've forgotten that good and truth changes face as easily as the clouds breaking upon this spire."

Koll looked away from the reflection. "Finding truth for ourselves...isn't that something worth passing on?"

Witarm sighed with dissapointment. "Koll, you may have found your own truths through battle, but that doesn't mean others have to be put through it," the old man held out his hand towards the window, "Elemos; you consider this place enlightened, and we have never seen a shadow of warfare. Until now."

Koll turned halfway to look at him. "Until now?"

"You've come to face the Sith Lord, haven't you? That means there will be fighting, possibly death. From what you've told me when Jedi fight, colleratal damage usually follows." Witarm looked at the floor, sadness lowering his shoulders. "It had to come to an end sometime."

Koll faced him fully. "What do you suggest?"

Witarm made a dubious smile. "You've come for my counsel?"

"You know where he is. You know I'll do my best to protect this place."

Witarm nodded. "In that I still trust." The man walked back to his desk and touched a set of controls. A small flickering hologram appeared over the desk, in the form of a small Elemosian official.

"Administrator?"

"Bruel," Witarm said flatly, "contact Eclipos and tell him that I will be down to see him shortly."

"Yes, Administrator." The connection died.

Koll frowned. "You've been keeping in contact with him? You've met him?"

Witarm nodded slowly. "He came here long ago, a year or so after you first came here. I have known him for just as long. I do not consider him a friend, but I have never felt the reason to fear him."

Koll straighted out and walked down to stand next to Witarm. He placed his hand on Witarm's shoulder. "Soon, you'll never have to."

Witarm looked up into his eyes, but didn't seem comforted by those words. "You can still walk away, Koll. Remember what I have told you here, and do not take it lighthearted."

Koll appreciated the man's concern, but this was his testimony in life, his legacy to leave behind. He believed in it, and even if no one else did he still had to see it through to the end. He couldn't leave now.

"The Galaxy is full of people who stayed on the easy path," Koll could feel the Force brimming inside of him, "I will leave this world a better place than I found."

Witarm smiled sadly. "Your Sith Lord awaits you in the lowest levels of the city, but in fighting him you could make yourself a greater threat than he ever was. You have fallen once to the Dark Side, but there are far greater dangers in this world than those of the Force."

* * *

Closing her mind from the, however beautiful, serene architecture around her, Sasa enveloped herself in the Force, hearing her husband's voice in her head. He talked to her through the Force, but she almost lost herself to the warmth of his presence rather than listen to the words themselves.

"What are you doing?"

Sasa startled and was whisked out of her state. Isak stood before her. "Meditating."

"Oh," he looked skeptical, "is that anything like daydreaming? That's what it looked like."

She rolled her eyes for the hundredth time that day. "Is your sarcasm meant to cloak your ignorance?"

"Absolutely," he said with a devious smile, "but how about yours?"

Sasa couldn't help smiling back. "I don't expect you to understand why we're doing this. It must seem far from a world of killing for money."

Isak shrugged and moved his eyes out to the city around them, the high walls and the dome of glass over their heads. "We live in the same world, Jedi. Its you and me that are different."

Sasa was slightly surprised at that observation. It seemed every time she underestimated Isak he managed to surprise her yet. "When you leave this world, Isak, you'll leave a track record, however impressive, but one consisting only of deathtolls."

He raised an eyebrow. "Whereas you will leave one of lifes saved?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He chuckled, shaking his head amused. "But how many lives did you have to take, before you could save the others?"

His comment silenced her, as she knew it was meant to. He was right in some way, but as usual it was in his own way, his own truth.

She nodded her head towards a lift. "We're going underground. Koll's found the Sith."

* * *

The moment his military boots stepped off the lift and onto the moist grating Koll could feel his combat senses come alive. He could feel danger, and his excitement was enforcing it's pull on his nerves, setting a fire in every one of his atoms. A tide was pushing him forward, elevating his pace as he strode down the access tunnel.

Machinery was pounding fiercely just beyond the walls of the oval-shaped tunnel, clutching at his eardrums, but he had only one thing on his mind; seeking down that disturbing presence that he was finally able to feel. Seek it down and destroy it.

The scent of rust and sea was building the further he descended through the city, each single level empty except for perfectly tuned machinery and the occasional pool of condensensation.

He unfastened his two lightsabers, tossing them over in his palms before clutching them tight. The danger was increasing, he was getting closer.

For a moment he almost stopped, but convinced his feet to keep walking. Witarm's words were playing in the back of his head, putting a question mark next to everything he'd ever done, and everything he still sought to do. He wished he'd never come to Elemos though he understood the need for him to come here, and maybe the man were right about some things, if not all.

He truly felt he could change the world for the better, but Witarms had him questioning the methods, just as Witarms had always taught him to question everything. That was the very nature of his wisdom, to take nothing at face value and always regard any subject from all angles. To study and examine the facts and then debunk them. But unlike any other teacher Koll had studied under through the years, Witarm offered no solutions. He never revealed the answers, but only illuminated the questions.

It aggrevated Koll, though it never had before. He didn't have time to sit down and rethink everything now. Eknath would soon be at Anodyn with the Star Destroyers and they would launch their attack against Coruscant. It wouldn't be long before the Republic would send reinforcements to Regana, before someone unveiled their plot.

And yet there was a doubt, doubt as to whether he truly was doing the right thing. Or more correctly; if he was doing the right thing the right way.

He traveled on, coming up to a wide open space deep within the city, a large spherical chamber big enough to house a city in itself. From his ledge, he estimated the opposite wall was at least two miles away and the cavity must've been a mile high at the center as well. The echos of machinery reached menacing proportions within the space, sounding like an unsteady heartbeat, the heart of the city.

But his attention was soon drown to small building at the base of the sphere, an emergency generator center. Thick power cables the height of humans sprawled out from the building and dissapeared into ducts. Koll could barely make out any details about the building, other than it was a wide circular structure and three stories high, about the size of a medium freighter.

Koll's eyes narrowed. "You can come out now."

Isak Shao came up behind him, whistling when he saw the space beyond the ledge. "Wow, they sure know how to build 'em, don't they?"

Koll was surprised at Sasa's absence. "Where is she?"

"She decided to take another route, she told you not to worry."

Why she'd chosen to do so disturbed him. That wasn't part of their plan. "Did you find out anything?"

Isak frowned. "Besides that Elemosians are shortest of all stuck-ups, no."

Koll let out a small chuckle. "Someday, Isak, you will learn to admire them for what they can do, for what they are. With age comes wisdom."

Isak unholstered his blasters and checked their clips. "I wouldn't be in this business if I planned at a long life."

Koll felt uneasy. "You do know, that it is possible in this world to live a happy life? It is possible to regard life as something to be treasured."

Isak smirked. "Don't get all divine on me."

Koll managed to chuckle. "I used to be a cynic too, and still am at some times. I once heard that 'being happy' is a choice, and not something that has to be found. You can choose to change the way you view the world, Isak. You only have to be conscious about it."

Isak's smirk faded, but it looked dishonest. "Yeah...wow, you really opened my eyes. From today, I will be bright and full every day." He laughed. "I'll 'choose life'."

Koll liked his humor, but found it sad Isak was too brash to understand what he was trying to show him. "Alright, forget it. I pray you live long enough to understand what I'm trying to tell you."

Isak smacked his lips. "No one lives that long, Riokon." He nodded towards the building at the base of the sphere. "I hate to say it, but this place feels like a trap." He retrived a scope from his belt and looked through it, scanning the building, seeing three men patrolling the roof. "Any chance this Witarm guy was setting you up?"

"No," Koll said, confident of that. "No way."

Isak took his eye off the scope. "Why not? You've already found out that someone inside your unit is a traitor." He tilted his head. "And if you couldn't sense it from them, how would you sense it from Witarm?"

Koll immediately thought of the Old Republic, and how Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had been able to hide his Sith allegiance from even such powerful Jedi Masters as Yoda, Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi. All of whom fell prey to the Emperor's plot. And just as it had been back then, Koll did feel something was hidden beneath. "The Dark Side clouds everything...but I've learned to sense it now."

Isak crawled backwards away from the ledge, a discomforted frown on his face. "Really?"

Koll's full attention turned to the young man. "Yes."

The moment Isak had his hand on the grip of the gun, was the same moment Koll's hand wrapped around the lightsaberhilt. By the time Isak's gun was aimed at Koll's face, the lightsaber was already ignited and held at Isak's throat. Isak smiled and chuckled lightly, not a hint of surprise on his face.

Koll's face was only touched by dissapointment.

"Did you know all along?" Isak asked, his hand starting to tremble.

Koll's shoulders rose and fell slowly, letting out a deep breath. "Since the beginning. Along the lines I was hoping you'd change your mind. Tell me how it happened."

"The Sith used many bounty hunters and mercenaires, such as yourself from time to time. He is well-connected, even with the guild on the _Jamaryndo_. When a shuttle registered to Hope's Haven arrived, he knew you'd betrayed him. I was to wait for you to make a move and then follow you. As luck would have it, you actually _hired _me." Isak shrugged. "Bringing in a live or dead Jedi...that's a reputation not many can compete with. You understand why I had to do this."

"No, I don't," Koll spoke softly, "and I know there's a part of you that doesn't really want to do this. The part of you I've been telling to come to terms with. Your vanity. Your insecurity. here are more things in life than money or fame."

"Not for me," Isak said convincingly, "I wasn't born with special powers. All I'm good at is fighting. In the end...it doesn't really matter if I die here or fifty years from now. I'll never get a chance like this again. I'd be insane not to go for it."

Kol shook his head, trying not to stare down the barrel of the gun aimed at his face. "You're insane to try. Where is Sasa?"

Isak nodded upwards. "Onboard the _Star Orchid_. She's fine. Though I can't be sure how long the mercenaries watching her will keep her that way."

Koll sneered. "And what about the Sith Lord?"

"I don't know where he's gone to, but I suspect he's very displeased with you. We'll be taking the clone body to him," Isak smirked, "right after I kill you."

"No," Koll said, undeterred, "you won't."

Isak's hand tightened on the blaster. "You're going to die down here, Riokon. It's over." Isak snorted. "For what its worth, I appreciate you trying. But...this is me at my best. The greatest and the lowest of all that I am."

Koll bit back the anger he felt, the betrayal, as well as his regret that he hadn't been able to steer Isak onto a better path. "I know."

Isak pulled the trigger but Koll sensed it coming. He pulled aside, the blast wheezing past his shoulder. Isak tried to track him with the blaster but Koll had already won the battle. He swirled on his foot, putting out his leg, knocking Isak's feet away under him. Before the boy had even touched the floor, Koll's free hand grasped his throat, holding him tight above the floor.

Isak's eyes widened in sudden terror, focusing on the red blade in Koll's other hand, expecting it to connect with his face any second. Koll's anger flooded into the fingers around Isak's throat and he clutched tightly around the windpipe and pulled down hard, ripping out the boy's throat with one quick move.

Isak's feet touched the floor again, but he stumbled back a few steps, holding his hand to his throat, gasping for air and puking up blood. The blood streamed out of the boy's throat and mouth, splattering on the walls around him, before his knees finally buckled and he slammed face down onto the floor.

Koll tossed the bloody piece of flesh in his hand away, hissing through his teeth. The anger was coursing through him, and he felt no need to quell it. He allowed it to build within him, knowing it would corrupt him as it always did. He'd mastered the art of walking the Dark Side, he knew the anger would empower him as much as it would try to swallow him, but he could maintain a stability. His body trembled, his teeth clenched shut.

He'd been played, once again. Someone had outsmarted him, someone had forseen his actions. Someone was laughing at him at this very moment. The Sith Lord was gone, perhaps lost forever, or maybe he would rat out Koll's intentions to the Republic, which would destroy all they had worked for.

He'd been so close.

_No, all is not lost. Not yet.

* * *

_

The entrance to the hangar of the_ Star Orchid _was of course shut down, but Koll wasn't planning on going through that way. His twin red lightsabers carved a rectangle through the floor and he came jumping through, landing with his feet on each side of the hole. The ten mercenary thugs that were guarding the shuttle opened fire in an instant, but the lightsabers forged an umbrella of protection which sent the shots back at the shooters.

Half of them fell prey to their own blaster bolts and Koll called two of their rifles to him, switching weapons in the blink of an eye. With a rapid firing blaster rifle in each hand he gunned down the last thugs, and ran up the ramp of the shuttle.

Inside more guards awaited him but Koll charged through the shuttle like a reek on fire, roaring with rage as he went, rifles screaming at full auto. He had to find her quickly, and he could feel her at the bridge, still alive but in danger.

The rifles went dry halfway through the shuttle and Koll let them drop to the floor, never stopping his rampage. Each thug that crossed his path died instantly as the Dark Side of the Force broke their necks like a thin branch.

By the time he reached the bridge his body was trembling with anger, his hands and fingers twitching with rage. Two thugs stood over his wife's sleeping body and as they reached for their blasters, Koll's fingers spread wide and tendrils of electricity enfolded them. They danced involuntarity in place, bodies rattling until their skin caught fire. Charred and smoking they fell to the floor, filling the bridge with a horrid stink.

Koll wasted no time in helping his wife, pulling her head up onto his knee and helping her back to consciousness.

Her eyes opened and she blinked twice, a frightened confusion upon her pale face. "What happened?"

Koll calmed his breathing. "Isak betrayed us. He was helping the Sith."

"The Sith?"

Koll shook his head. "Gone."

Her hand sought his. "Then what?"

"Anodyn." His hand tightened around hers. "We're going home."

* * *


	6. Fate Unbound

He didn't know what he was expecting, but he was sure this would never have crossed his mind. And that perplexed him since he'd always done a lot of thinking about death. He'd sent so many into its hands that he believed to have at least had a vague idea about it. But he found it easy to accept that this was how it was to die. He didn't remember the time in between actual moment of death and where he was now. He felt different, somehow lucid and free, but still caged, still afraid.

His mind wanted to wander all over the inifite space around him but he couldn't make it take a first step. He fell tumbling like a stone down the side of a mountain, violently skipping from invisible edges, arms flaring. He tried desperately to cling to something to stop his descent, but the moment his fingers found anything it would dissolve within his grip. All around him was only darkness, but a darkness so thick he could feel it reaching inside of his eye, slowly sucking away his consciousness.

He didn't know whether to fight it or just let it happen; no one ever expected to have to make decisions on the other side of life. It reminded him of a lot of other facets of the Force; meditating, the libberatium and other out of body experiences. The only difference was that this one was incontrollable, he couldn't snap out of it or look away. He couldn't look away and he couldn't even look at it.

Faces started appearing before his mind, unfamiliar faces. Faces that either smiled or cried or laughed or screamed at him. They passed with a wink before him, and it wasn't until the hundreth or so face that he began to recognize them. Faces he'd only seen briefly while living, but faces that had somehow managed to imprint on his memory no less.

His victims.

People he'd killed. He couldn't shut them out of his head and they all shot by at a steady fast speed, each one delivering a stab through his chest. None of them left him enough time to regret their fate, they only stung him with a piercing pain and were then whisked away into the darkness.

Skar screamed against the black, but no echo returned. Faces kept coming, and somewhere amidst all the pain he managed to piece together that he wasn't only seeing _his _victims, but he was seeing Skind Kjoil's victims as well. At the end the images were happening so fast the pain became a constant searing rip at his heart, as though a hand had reached inside of him and was trying to pry out his very soul.

Skar cried against the black, but no tears flowed. _Shinran! _his mind screamed. _Please hear me! Shinran! Where are you!_

The thought occured to him that maybe this was what death really was like. Falling forever towards nothing, seeing the wrongs he had comitted. Maybe such a thing as hell did exist, maybe the Force had picked him as a sinner and this was his damnation. He was afraid to believe it.

But where was Shinran and his son? Where were all those things that he had been promised? Where was the peace of death? He'd always believed death to be a release from pain, however painful it might be to reach it. People submitted to torture tended to drift towards the liberation of death to ease their suffering. This couldn't be it. This couldn't last forever, how could death be pain when there was no body to feel it?

Skar died a million deaths, free-falling towards infinty. His brain, his mind, if such a thing still existed along with his soul, was about to explode. He could feel himself starting to stretch, pulled and tugged from every angle, slowly being ripped apart as he fell towards nothing at all.

_I'm sorry! _

He screamed, hoping something or someone would hear him.

_I'm sorry!_

The darkness opened like curtains pulled and Skar fell like a missile through clouds, zipping by him like speeders at maximum velocity. Soon enough the ground showed beyond their white soft shapes and Skar impacted before his mind could even register seeing the earth, before fear could even set in. The earth flowed outwards from his impact, like waves on the sea. He fell through the ground, his body melting through the crust before reaching the center of whatever planet he was falling through.

He hit the burning sun inside of it and the world exploded.

Skar gasped as air filled him and he opened his eyes to find himself standing on a plain of grass that reached up to his thighs, softly moving by a gentle breeze. The wind caressed his face and the sensation provoked a careful smile. He felt alive again, and felt fine even. The pain was gone. Up ahead a yellow sun was casting brilliant rays across and around him. The plain he stood upon had no edge, no horizon, it was a solitary piece of ground floating amidst beautiful clouds.

He found himself feeling weightless, as though purged of a great burden that had been weighing him for all his life. All evil and darkness had left his body, and he stood as a cleansed being.

But he wasn't alone.

Skar turned slowly, knowing she was there before seeing her. And she was real this time, real flesh and blood, not transparent as a ghost. The world was radiant, more beautiful than ever. Her long blond hair trailed down her face, surrounding her delicate features. Skar's heart warmed up as he started to walk closer to her. And as she stayed, solid and firm this time right before him, Skar's smile took on a whole other size.

"Hey, you." Him smiling brought a smile to her face too. "What are you thinking about?"

He stared at her, knowing she would not fade, that she was really there, that he was really there. That finally they were together again. He felt strong and eternal, even as his eyes started to well. "Honestly? How people fear death...if only they knew how beautiful it really is."

She blushed, her eyes shining like stars. "You smooth talker, you."

Skar reached her finally and wrapped his arm around her waist, enclosing her inside his embrace. His lips found hers instantly and they merged as one, hugging each other as tight as possible. Skar could feel her love pouring into his body, the fuel he'd been bereft for so long. He pulled away from her lips, but kept her face up against his, his tears of joy touching her cheeks as well.

"Most people would kill for a chance like this," she whispered, her eyes burning a hole in his soul.

He smiled. "I _did _kill a lot," the smile turned sour, "but I died for a chance like this." His eyes stayed locked on her, seeing nothing besides her gorgerous face. "Life was never as beautiful as you look right now."

She giggled, releasing a few tears of joy herself. "I always knew I'd see you again."

"Yeah...you would have been safer making that bet than I would," he joked.

"I missed you," her voice broke, "I missed you _so _much."

"I can't believe this is happening," he said, shaking his head, "it has to be real this time. Not another dream."

"It's not," she assured him, "I'm here. How do you feel?"

He looked around the frame of her face. "What is this place?"

She glanced around them. "I'm...not entirely sure yet. It's a part of the Force, the netherworld, some realm of it. It's new to me."

"Are we really dead?" he asked, feeling more alive than ever. "I don't...feel dead."

She looked at him again, not a care on her face. "How would you know? But the fact that you feel at all should be some indication." She waved him forward and started walking backwards towards the edge of the grass, tugging him by the hand. "Come. I have to show you something. We don't have much time."

"Time?" he asked. "Time exists here?"

"The dead do not sit idle while the living play."

He resisted her dragging him away from the moment. "Where are we going?"

She took both his hands and walked backwards, leading him. "You know that saying about life flashing before your eyes when you die?"

He followed her, facing what she had her back to. "Yeah. I saw...a lot of dead people. People I'd killed. Nothing else."

"It's about to. Beyond this door is your past."

Skar looked behind her, seeing a strange mechanical set of doors at the edge of the grass. He could look around them and see no corridor leading anywhere. It was very unnerving but he couldn't help finding it interesting as well.

"Do you want to see it?" she asked.

He knew he stood at the end of his existance and that all the answers were within his reach. But knowing only meant the actual end wasn't far off. "Not really," he said lowly. "I've seen it. I didn't like the ending."

She chuckled, one of her chamrs being able to read his sometimes dark humor. "You need to, Skar. It will make explaining everything a lot easier. And there are many things to be learned from memory."

He looked sideways at her. "Such as?"

"Such as the reason why you're here."

He held up a finger. "Wait, I know this one," he jested. "I'm here because I chose to be a vhronik snack."

She laughed heartily. "Ever the Jedi comedian."

Her smiles made him feel safe. "Yeah, can this thing show me what kind of life that would have been?"

"Step through and we'll see."

His anxiety came back and just looking at the doors sent silver down his back. "What's in there?"

She winked at him. "Only what you take with you."

He could feel his body involuntarily backstepping. "I...really don't want to."

She nodded and looked dissapointed. "Alright, I suppose I can understand that, and respect it." She leaned in for a quick kiss on his cheek. "But _I'm_ still going!" She turned quickly on her naked heels, slipped out of his hands and ran for the doors. "Come on, Skar!"

Skar watched her slip through the parting doors and squinted his eyes against the light that swallowed her. He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.

"Here we go again..."

Skar stepped forward, crossing the threshold. There was a moment of powerful gravity from all sides, and then a bright pain. But before the pain could fully register in his mind, his mind had changed shape and form and suddenly he was inside...

* * *

...Jedi Master Bo-Hi Dzog knelt down by one grave on the ashy plains, collecting his hands in his lap, lowering his head in prayer. He pressed back the tears rushing to his eyes. The battle had been disastrous on both sides, a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided. And in the midst of all the fighting he'd lost his perspective.

He believed he could have prevented the fight somehow, but he'd been too caught up trying to save his own life. He knew he would gain nothing from secondguessing his actions, but he felt he owed it to the fallen nonetheless. Holding back the tears he allowed the lightsaber to roll from his fingers and onto the ground.

And there it stayed for long after he left the planet...

* * *

...Skar wrestled himself free of the experience by opening his eyes, finding himself falling towards nothing once again, stars streaking by at great speed. He fell through the universe, unshaped and whirling like a comet. She was nowhere to be seen, but he could feel her all over.

"Sasa! What is this!" he shouted, his voice echoing omniously

Her voice came clearly, as though she was right inside his head. "Don't fight it. It's just memories attached to your history. Don't fight it."

Skar decided to trust her and closed his eyes again, blocking out the strange sensation of falling through the universe. Almost instantly he found himself inside...

* * *

...the temple of Kryuu had an air of death to it, he thought. Even through his breathing apparatus Jedi Master Bo-Hi Dzog could smell the tension and sadness that clung to the walls like a black hole, swallowing any hint of smile or rejoice at an enemy finally slain. He walked determined through the stone halls, studying the faces of the clone troopers and guards that, at the request of the Jedi Council, patrolled and searched the hallways and chambers for data that might reveal who had counseled and led Skind Kjoil onto his path of darkness.

Bo-Hi suspected they would find nothing. The Sith that had trained Darth Maul had done so patiently and secretly for many years. Many things could be said about the Sith but their virtue was patience and precision. The only clues that remained to be found were those felt in the Force itself.

And the Force was brimming with information, and with emotion. The very same sadness he felt in the temple came from the mourning cry of the Force. The Kjoil were definitely powerful beings, stronger in the Force than any Jedi ever heard of. The Council acknowledged this, but refrained from speaking about it much.

The Kjoil were still an infant race, one with great potential, but Skind Kjoil and his father, the late Pfan Kjoil, and their defection to the Dark Side showed that a Kjoil was a dangerous and easily seduced race.

He didn't trouble himself with this matter. It was for the Council to decide what would happen regarding Ka'ckak, the Kjoil planet, and the remaining Epigones that still served the Republic. The very same Council he was on his way to comune with at the moment. For reasons he couldn't yet predict.

The silo-shaped chamber at the lowest level of the temple still showed scars of a lightsaber battle, scorch marks lining up the surface of the platform in the center of the room. A platform taking up half of the silo's width, a chamber that seemed to continue forever above his head as well as below the platform.

Bo-Hi marched across the small walkway to the platform, kneeling down once he reached it. Turning around to face him, Jedi Master Yoda and Jedi Master Mace Windu were already there, both of them bowing their heads slightly, acknowledging his arrival.

Bo-Hi rose. "Master Yoda, Master Windu; you sent for me."

Master Windu stepped towards him and smiled as warmly as he could, but the seriousness in his eyes betrayed his attempt at easing Bo-Hi's anxiety. "Welcome to Kryuu, Master Dzog. I'm sorry that the debrifing on your mission to Caludaa couldn't be delivered back home in the Council Chamber. But as you've no doubt heard, there was a matter here that needed every last Master present."

Bo-Hi nodded. "Caludaa," the memory still haunted him, "many innocent people died, Master. Along with local security forces we managed to supress the attackers, but at a great cost. They were more technologicly advanced than our reports indicated. What should have been a skirmish became a horrific battle."

Master Windu frowned regretfully. "Had we known, you would never have traveled alone. I'm sorry you had to fight alone, but happy to see you unscathed. I am confident you did what the Force intended."

Bo-Hi felt his body straighten by its own will. "That and beyond, Master."

Master Windu smiled again. "It is that very dedication we must call upon again, my friend. The Council has a new assignment for you."

A part of Bo-Hi instantly wanted to be and do his best, but the rest of him wanted eagerly to recuperate after his last mission. He'd overseen the burials of several hundred innocent people, a vast fields filled with gravestones and grass still tainted with blood. He'd left his lightsaber behind on those fields, feeling a part of him had died in that battle.

He'd lost a piece of faith in the good in everyone on Caludaa, he'd had to take lives from people simply because they wouldn't listen to his reason and his solutions. Greed had spawned that battle, and by giving something precious to the dead, he felt he had ended it with compassion and sympathy. He would construct a new lightsaber, and proceed on his path a little wiser.

Master Yoda supported himself on his cane as he approached them. "Master Dzog. Fortunate, that able to contact you we were. Here, a great evil has been defeated," his eyes showed traces of the sadness that still lingered in the Force, "and now, another evil must be undone."

Bo-Hi felt himself starting to worry. "Master?"

Master Windu spoke low. "You know of the Jentarana project?"

That he did. The battle machine created by the now dead Skind Kjoil, a weapon funded by the Senate to protect the Kjoil homeworld in payment of their loyalty to the Republic. "Yes, I have heard of it, yet I've never seen it."

"Few have," Windu said, "but it is here, now, on this world. Skind brought it here to give to his Master, and we believe that same Master won't risk coming here now that we've defeated his apprentice."

"I agree," Bo-Hi said, "what is to become of this weapon?"

Master Windu looked and sounded defeated. "Chancellor Palpatine wants it returned to Coruscant, where it will be dismantled."

Bo-Hi nodded. "A wise choice. I seem to recall that only Skind could control its mechanisms. Given his death, I suppose it serves no use to anyone."

Master Yoda and Master Windu shared an apprenhesive glance at each other.

"Am I wrong?"

"No," Master Yoda replied, an edge to his voice that rarely showed, "but, in Republic hands, we do not trust it."

"What?" Bo-Hi was shocked.

Master Windu hugged himself. "A growing disturbance in the Force leads us to believe that there are those inside the Republic that would not let this technology go to waste. There is a danger that some would harvest it for their own purpose. We never approved of the weapon's creation in the first place. It was a weapon forged in evil, it's better left destroyed."

Bo-Hi didn't understand. "But...isn't that what the Republic plans to do?"

"Sure of this, how can we be?" Master Yoda showed great concern. "The spirit of Skind Kjoil resides still." Yoda's big eyes looked at the walls around him with respect but also tension. "Strong he was, to have built this temple, only as an apprentice. Destroyed, it must be."

Master Windu nodded, a grave look upon his face. "We are charging you with this mission, to take the Jentarana, far away from here, and see to that it is completely lost from this world. It has become a Sith artifact, a presence of evil."

Master Yoda nodded. "In the hangar, the Jentarana waits. Take it, you must."

Bo-Hi started to understand that his mission was only part of a grander design. "And the remaining Kjoil Epigones?"

Mace Windu looked as though a blade had struck through his chest. "That...remains to be decided. We must convene with the rest of the Council before making anything final."

Yoda seemed to agree. "Powerful the Kjoil are. Great care, we must take."

_Great care to what_? Bo-Hi wondered. _Termination_? "Master, the Kjoil are loyal. I'm sure Skind was only - "

"An accident?" Windu asked. "but what about his father? His sister?" Windu looked lost. "As I said, this matter must be handled delicately."

Bo-Hi felt better leaving the matter in the Council's hands and decided to focus on his own mission, thankful he wasn't shouldering as big a problem as Master Yoda and Master Windu. "I leave it to your wisdom, Masters, and shall see to my own assignment immediately." He bowed to them both. "May the Force be with you."

Yoda and Windu returned the bow.

"May the - "

"Sir!" a voice cried from the entrance to the chamber. "Master Jedi!" A Republic clone trooper came running across the walkway, panic flowing from him. "I think you should come take a look at this!"

Although he couldn't be sure, although the sound was brought to his ears slowly, Bo-Hi believed he heard the unmistakable sound of a baby crying somewhere down the halls outside the chamber...

* * *

...Skar opened his eyes slower this time, letting the rift between reality and memory and death build itself into a coherent image. He knew he wasn't really falling anywhere, although the sensation of falling through the universe was extremely vivid. All around him were stars, distant and close, shiny orbs somehow giving off a warmth like a comfortable blanket around him. He settled into this state and allowed the feelings he felt to flow through him, knowing he couldn't be hurt.

After all; he _was _already dead.

"Good, good," Shinran's voice spoke around him, "I knew you'd get the hang of it."

He felt proud, glad to have pleased her. "Master Bo-Hi was so young."

"True. He'd only just become a Jedi Master."

Skar's arms and hands flowed on their own, as though he was lying on the surface of water, slowly paddling himself around. "Master Yoda...he looked so troubled."

"It was dark times, Skar."

Skar understood that. "So what is this? I got past the dead part. Now what?"

"You have become one with the Force, in a sense; you _are _the Force."

The universe around him was tangible and he knew at the speed of thought he could see any point in time, any location. At the speed of thought he could see the entire Galaxy past, present and future if he wanted to.

"Does this happen to all Jedi when they die?"

"No. Becoming one with the Force is still a very _young _idea. You'd be amazed how few of the thousands and thousands of Jedi that have lived, who have achieved what you've been naturally given."

Skar raised an eyebrow. "Given?"

"No one taught you the key to becoming one with the Force, did they?"

Skar guessed not. "I was told that it happened if a Jedi accepted death when it came, that he was able to transfer his soul to the Force in that moment."

"That's only partly true. All Jedi transform into the Force when they die, their energy returned to where it came from. Not many have been able to maintain their identity, such as you have."

Skar looked around at the many planets far away. "Can I talk to them? The other ones that have maintained their identity?"

"No. Their souls are linked to still living individuals. They can exist this way for a long time, some times thousands of years if they..._understand _the Force well enough. But sooner or later their attachments to the living world are severed and they transform into the Force."

Skar made a sly smile, piecing a puzzle. "But I'm here, talking to you. So what are _you_, Shinran?"

"I'm a _surprise_," she chuckled. "Oh, here comes another vision."

Skar braced himself and once again closed his eyes...

* * *

...Sasa sprinted across the walkway, her boots sliding to a halt once she reached the circular platform in the center of the round bottomless chamber. Her black Kjoil uniform had seen better days, but she still wore it proudly. She palmed her lightsaber, the lightsaber her brother had given her, the lightsaber that had once belonged to Selia Iver. A woman history would remember as the cause of all this.

But she was only partly to blame. The second half was waiting for her in the center of the platform. Skind Kjoil turned slowly to face her, his black uniform as tattered as hers, and the rest of him as dark and clearly scathed. His trimmed hair was soaked in sweat, patches of dirt across his face, his once perfect goatee had become a full unkempt beard.

He smiled at her, the way he'd always done; that smile of love and wisdom that had always reassured her bewilderment.

But not this time.

"Sis," he said affectionately and held out his arms, revealing a lightsaber in his right hand, "welcome...to the end."

Sasa started circling her brother, walking sideways. "I got your message, brother. Mind explaining what it is you're planning to do here?"

Skind tilted his head and lowered his arms. "Isn't it obvious? I wanted to see my sister again. We've been apart for too long."

Sasa kept her eyes on the man she'd once called brother, unable to disguise the feeling inside of her that said he'd changed too much. "I'm never further away from you, than you are from me. You've been busy."

Skind grinned. "Hmm. So you've heard. The Jedi have already turned you against me."

"Surprised?"

His smile faded. "I guess not. You've always been easily manipulated. I should know," his voice changed, becoming softer, almost a whisper, "listen to me, Sasa; I don't expect you to forgive me for what I've done, that's not why I'm here. I've come to warn you."

Sasa frowned. "Warn me?"

"The Jedi have always resented our kind, and made no effort to hide this fact. They want us removed from the Order, Sasa. They know we are greater than them. We have twice the strength and none of their weaknesses - "

"Some of us do," she retorted.

He shrugged it off. "They _fear _us, Sasa. They know that we should be the ones policing the Galaxy. The Sith explained it to me. I was a fool not to have seen it before."

She scoffed. "You're a fool to believe it now."

Skind's eyes darkened, thunder roaring behind them. "Koll has fed you lies about me, of the Jedi, and of the Sith. Sasa, they are shadows compared to us, they should be answering to us. They are not powerful enough to maintain stability in this Galaxy. We must remove them, Sasa, or this Galaxy will fall into a war from which it will never fully heal. Don't you see? That is why we are here, why we exist. The Jedi carried the torch this far, but the world has changed. Now it is our time to _reign_."

She shook her head defiantly. "Your choice of words betray your thoughts, brother. You only want control."

He laughed manicly, the sound echoing off the walls of the chamber. "Want? Sasa, my dear sister; I _have _control. I am the greatest there has ever been. I have already brought the Jedi Council to their knees. No one exists that can defeat me." He extended his hand to Sasa. "Join me, sister. Give me your alligance, free yourself of Koll's lies and we can rule this Galaxy as brother and sister!"

She stopped walked, a dissapointed smile on her face. "You underestimate me, brother. I know where your heart lies." She held up the lightsaber in her hand. "_This _is why you had me come here. It's all your obsessed dark mind cares about now, isn't it?"

Skind's extended hand slowly became a fist and his lips curled into a feral snarl. "Very well, my sister. Give it to me, and I'll be gone soon enough."

"Why?" she asked, a plea in her voice. "What happened to you? Why this obessesion with death? Selia is dead - "

"NO!" he yelled. "No, she is not!" His face became a mask of anger, his entire body trembling with fury. "I _will _find her, I _will _be with her again!"

The lightsaber in his hand ignited, a perfect crimson blade stabbing into the floor at his feet.

"And _you _won't stop me!"

The lightsaber in her hand ignited as well, another red blade filling the air around them with tension. "As long as I hold this, you've already lost, brother."

Skind answered with a black roar, the metal walls around them bulging outwards from the power in his howl. Sasa felt it as a shove, feeling her boots slowly slide towards the edge behind her. She asserted herself and suffered Skind's rage, letting it pass over her like a dark storm, standing her ground.

"You'd choose the Jedi over _family_!" he snarled.

She bit her teeth together. "You chose the _Sith _over family!"

He laughed at her. "The Sith _are _our family, Sasa!" He held her lightsaber so she could see the handgrip clearly. "Yes, I pried it from our father's dead hands!" He swirled the blade around to cover his face, slowly leaning it down to point at her. "But when you see him, you can give him the comfort of knowing he wasn't the _only _weakling in our family!"

Sasa screamed and charged forward to reach her brother, her lightsaber held high. Skind screamed back louder at her as they met halfway, their lightsaber slamming against each other with such force the entire chamber shook...

* * *

...Skar could still feel a coldness inside him when he returned to the Force. The darkness between Skind and Sasa had been very powerful. Why he was being shown these things eluded him. Was he supposed to be learning? Was he supposed to be sad, feel remorse? What? What good was knowledge going to do him in an afterlife? Was he supposed to admit that his own path had mirrored Skind's so effortlessly?

"Hmm, I thought you understood," Shinran said slightly dissapointed.

"What?"

"That the Force isn't showing you these memories. You're the one making them appear."

Skar felt confused. "Me? But I wasn't thinking about them."

She giggled. "No. But whenever you closed your eyes you were wondering what would appear. Your mind's first guess came true."

He frowned. "My mind's first guess?"

"Your subconciousness. I only showed you the first one of Master Bo-Hi. It wasn't related to you because you don't have that memory, you were never there. But he told me the story of his mission to Caludaa. The rest you conjured up on your own."

Skar felt used, but kept back his resentment. "You tricked me?"

"The easiest lessons to learn are those you stumble upon by accident. I had to speed up your training."

Now he felt really confused. "Training?"

"Yes," she replied in a whisper, "we have much work to do...

* * *

...my young apprentice," Darth Sidious said as he moved towards the cloning facility in the deepest bowels of Regana, holding out his hands, palms upward, and released that manic evil laughter. A laughter so horrifying it seemed to stem from the Dark Side itself.

Beside him, Skind Kjoil crossed his chest and allowed the Dark Side from his Master to influence him, allowing that evil power to crawl beneath his skin and pervert his mind, that which was left of it.

Sidious lowered his hands. "Spaarti cylinders. Not unlike the ones used by the Kaminoans. But these are not intended for mere clone soldiers. These must remain hidden."

Skind nodded his agreement. "Yes..." He wanted to say more but wasn't sure what he should say. He'd already agreed to Sidious's plan, but that didn't necissarily mean he was onboard with his full heart. "You're...sure of this, my Master?"

Sidious grinned lowly, his hood turning to look in Skind's direction. "You are the greatest of all Jedi, Skind. But your feelings for this woman has led you astray. I've tried convincing you to change your mind, but I see now the greatness of Kjoil goes in hand in hand with their passion. I will make you a full Sith, which will give you the chance to see her again, provided you grant me the chance to carry on your legacy."

Skind couldn't take his eyes off the tanks before him. "Is it an immediate part of your plan to retake the Republic?"

Sidious's hood turned away again. "No. It is only a precaution. My plan to take control of the Republic is proceeding as planned."

Skind had no doubts of that, and maybe once it would disturbed him that the Republic he'd defended for so long was heading for a fall. And to some extent it still did. Only not enough to pull his thoughts away from seeing Selia again. Not enough to fill that hollow gap in his chest. What did it matter anyway? Soon he would leave this world. He wouldn't live to see the damages his actions might inflict. Soon all of this would only be a memory and he would find solace in the arms of the woman he loved.

Skind nodded to himself. "Right," he pulled up his sleeve and walked towards the specimen extractor, "let's get it over with."

Sidious smiled wickedly at the man's back, as the great and legendary Skind Kjoil resolutely inserted his right hand inside the machine, allowed it to draw blood from his veins, and sealed his fate...

* * *

...Skar shook his head clear again, grinning at his own foolishness. "Sorry. I decided to test you."

"Oh. You don't trust me?"

"Of course," he added quickly, and then made a sly smile. "But you've already tricked me once. Maybe the trick itself was another trick."

She mocked his voice. "_Maybe the trick itself was another trick_."

Skar laughed out loud. "Alright, I'm sorry."

"I haven't even started to instruct you and already you're getting on my nerves."

Skar shrugged with a smug grin on his face. "Probably why they started training Padawans at such a young age. Wit takes time to grow."

"Everything takes time to grow," her voice was straight and serious. "Let's start at the basics of questions. Before we can understand what the Force does and why it does it, we have to understand its very nature."

Skar nodded. "What is the Force?"

The world changed shape, within the blink of an eye. Now he stood on a moist swamp floor, odd trees bending in unnatural shapes around him. A cloud of mist covered the ground, and strange creatures were chirping and screeching nearby. And again, without having ever been to the planet, he still knew what and where it was. The name appeared in his mind as though someone was spelling it out for him.

Dagobah.

Shinran appeared from behind a tree and walked slowly across the ground, deep in thought. The mist around his feet swirled up and began to illustrate images for him to see. All around him moving pictures were being constructed, showing him the history of the Jedi, back to the very first baby-steps of the Force.

And she sounded like a true Jedi Master as she explained. "The Force is a sentient entity as alive as you and I once were. A power, a living energy that flows through and beneath everything in the Galaxy. A power unrealized until many thousand years ago. It grants many wonderous powers, many abilities that cannot be credited as anything other than magic."

Skar smiled briefly. "Kayupa once scolded me for calling it magic."

"Magic would entail that it is a rare thing, that few master. We know now that is not the full truth, many have learned to harness this energy. But the question remains; what is the true way of the Force? Is it the Jedi path? The Sith path? Or even a Kjoil path?"

Skar almost felt as though he was drifting on her voice. "There are many other groups that have come to understand the Force." Skar thought of his encounter with ones such as the Circle of Perfection on Kryuu. He chuckled to himself. "Things like vhroniks, for instance. Or creatures as the ysalamiri who are bereft of the Force."

"And that's only two animal races in a Galaxy of endless life," she pointed out.

Skar nodded. "I accept that, and do not question it. But it seems apparent to me that since Kjoil are the strongest of them all, that they are the true offspring of the Force."

She started shaking her head. "You only say so because you have not yet encountered anyone stronger than a Kjoil. Doesn't it stand to reason that such a thing might exist and we may just not have heard of it?"

He thought about it, though he realized quickly there wasn't much to think about. "Could be...is that true?"

"No. It is not. No creature or sentient lives that has a higher midiclorian count than a Kjoil."

Skar wasn't really surprised. All his life he'd been told this. "So then we are the strongest."

"Depends on how you intepret strength. You seem obsessed with the idea that it gives you any honor, you'd like to think of yourself as a direct offspring of the Force."

"Not much honor in my family," he admitted with a sigh.

She continued. "You are also obsessed with the idea that Jedi equals good and Sith equals bad. That is not true. What defines a person as good or evil as nothing to do with their alignment in the Force. The Force does not choose sides between these groups, but it does favor some individuals over others, those destined for the continuing understanding and preservation of the Force. But this also means..." She left the sentence unfinished.

And Skar picked up quickly. "...just because we're the strongest, doesn't make it a good thing."

"When a Kjoil draws upon the Force, he draws more than your normal Jedi, even your normal Sith."

"Well, sure," he said, before realizing he didn't really understand. She was just stating the obvious. "Right?"

She took a few moments to find the right words. "Imagine a window with blinds; when a Jedi wants to see the sun, he opens the blinds only enough as he needs to see it. A Sith opens the blinds fully. A Kjoil...well, he doesn't even care about the blinds. He's already ripped them down and is standing in the window frame, screaming at the sky with - "

Skar held up his hands, nodding franticly. "I get it, I get it."

She laughed nervously. "Sorry...maybe there's a better way to - "

"No, I understand," he assured her. "But what does that mean to everything else?"

She went on. "Luckily there has never been so many Kjoil trained in the Force that it has had any substantial impact on the rest of the Galaxy. There's always only been a handful of Kjoil at any time, not enough to weaken any other Jedi. But there are exceptions; Skind Kjoil worsened the shroud of the Dark Side during the Old Republic, and his clone continued this unlucky evolution. Any normal Kjoil doesn't weaken the other Force sentients around them, unless..."

Skar wasn't sure he wanted to hear it. "Unless what?"

"Unless they use the Dark Side. Skind Kjoil used great power during his exile, but again the other Jedi were already inhibited so it made no great difference in the larger scheme of things. And all of the lives he took, for which he is so well remembered, were all taken before his turn. To this day those that know of him, remember him as a great leader during the Old Republic. But also as a sad man who comitted suicide because he lost the woman he loved. A fairytale turned cautionary tale. Of how even the greatest of powers can't heal a broken heart."

Whenever his family was brought up, espicially Skind, he fell into a defensive guard. He didn't like talking about them, and he certainly didn't like having to view an already unpleasant past from another angle.

"I'll accept that version of the events, but the evil that some hear in his name has been passed on to me. I used the Dark Side, Sith or not; I didn't care. I pulled everything in that I could hold during my last hours in life."

"Yes. And that is why we're here."

Skar's fear came alive instantly. "What? I died. The Force is in equilibrium again. Rishi is stronger, along with the rest of the Jedi. They can stop Riokon and his men easily. Things will work out," he felt himself starting to panic, "won't they?"

When she spoke again, her voice was grim, concerned even. But not without some level of forsight. "The Galaxy will survive Riokon and the Sons of Destiny, it will survive the Sith Lord that's making a play for control, it will survive the alien invasion and much worse."

Skar thought of his dream visions, of aliens marching across fields covered in grass. It felt strange to have someone else talk about it. He'd never told anyone about it. Eknath had known about it though. "The alien invasion...so my dreams were real?"

"Yes," she confirmed,"...and no. As I already told you once, dreams are warnings for the Jedi. The outcome of a possible future."

Once again Skar felt that gnawing feeling inside. That he was about to receive very bad news. "What do you mean?"

"You had a vision of an invasion, that much is true. And that invasion _is _coming."

Skar wished himself away to a place where he didn't have to ask what she was waiting for. "But?"

"The Galaxy will survive _that _invasion, although with deep scars and many dead, much sadness and much darkness. However, there is _another _invasion coming."

"Another invasion?"

"Yes," her voice turned dark, "one that you started. A Kjoil invasion."

Skar once again felt like he was falling out of control. "What are you talking about?"

"All of this relates to another question about the Force; what does it mean in the grander scheme of things? Why are some given its powers and others not? Is there any link between the Force and destiny?"

Skar shrugged. He'd never learned that. "Is there?"

"The Force controls no destiny, but it differentiates between good and evil. And this doesn't mean Sith or Jedi, or even Kjoil. In the eyes of the Force, even a Sith can be a good person at heart. Take for instance Anakin Skywalker, and all Jedi touch the Dark Side at some point. The Force does influence events, through its servants, but some become so powerful that they are able to manipulate it, allowing them to change the design the Force had intended, the design the Force wants to see happen. The Force wanted Anakin Skywalker to destroy the Sith, but he became so powerful his path took a...detour."

"A detour?" he asked. "That's putting it mildly."

"But he eventually fell onto the right path again, once his mistakes became clear to him. Once he remembered the good he'd always had in him."

Skar raised an eyebrow. "And the millions that died as a cause of his _detour_?"

"Suffice to say, the Force was strong with Skywalker. The events he allowed to happen are of his own fault."

_Ridiculous_, Skar thought. "If the Force is a sentient entity as you said, why didn't it just shut Anakin off from the Force?"

"To do so would kill Anakin, and Anakin was fated for great things. No one survives without the Force."

"The ysalamiri do," Skar pointed out.

"Because they are able to null the Force, doesn't mean they are not part of it."

Skar admitted his defeat and tried to piece all of it together. "What does this have to do with Rishi?"

"When you turned to the Dark Side and started drawing the Force, you changed the course of destiny. Your despair and the lies you were fed diverted you from your set path,"

"My _set _path?" Skar felt himself slip into confusion more and more. "I thought my destiny was to die, so the other Jedi could become more powerful. So equilibrium could - "

"Other Jedi would also include the Sons of Destiny's highest ranking members; Koll, Sasa, Eknath, and Raine."

Skar held out his hands. "So what does it mean? That I wasn't meant to die? I though I was doing everyone a favor by dying."

Her voice turned soft and caring again. "You _were _fated to die, Skar...just not yet. Now your fate has been passed along to Rishi. He now bears the responsiblity of stopping the Sons of Destiny. And he is not ready. There are things you didn't have a chance to teach him, and tell him. Things that would have stopped the Sons of Destiny. Rishi was the ace in the hole, the one person who could rectify it all. Only you forgot to teach him certain things. Now he is lost, pained and on his way to the dark path."

Suddenly her previous words came forth again, holding Rishi up as a vector. "The Kjoil invasion..."

"Realize; the burden of teaching the refugees about the Force now dwells upon Rishi's shoulders. And he is unschooled and not ready for this. He will fail, and all of the Kjoil will fall to the Dark Side because of it. They will cover this Galaxy in darkness, and the alien invasion will be nothing but a shadow upon the sun of their evil. A darkness from which the Galaxy will never recover. Because, as you said, they are the strongest of all. In all your Darkness you took fate into your own hands and cheated your way out of your destiny."

He didn't like the image she was painting before him. "The Kjoil are not - "

"What Jedi feels in the Force when a Kjoil dies, that pain," her tone of voice was very careful, "it is not mourning. It is the Force weeping at its own greatest mistake. Your destiny, Skar, as any other Kjoil, lies only in death. That is why their planet was destroyed."

Skar wanted to object fiercely, but answers came on their own. Riddles in the past that suddenly made sense. "I found Draori just as the Kjoil Epigones moved on the planet."

"Exactly, and you've never understood why they tried to kill their own kind."

"They knew?"

"Yes. And you stopped them, but then you moved the Kjoil away from public eyes and it was thought they would never surface again, that you, as frail and doubtful as you are would never train them. That you would instead leave that responsibility behind. Rishi would never be as strong as a Kjoil could be because you never trained him proper."

Skar felt so hollow, so blind, utterly alone. "Everything was planned...the Jedi were right about us. My merging with Sonnet...I began to feel it. I began to feel life around me die as I grew. That's why it happened. To show me what would happen if I ever become powerful enough, like Skind did."

She nodded. "That...is the will of the Force. And it is that very same power that Rishi is now looking for. Rishi would have stopped the Sons of Destiny and gone on to become a great Jedi, but never a Kjoil. That is why I am here, why you are here now, why we cannot pass on to the other side fully. You are still connected to Rishi, the way Skind was connected to you, as I am connected to you. The Kjoil passion creates unbreakable links between those they love, which is why they are so prone to falling to the Dark Side. The Kjoil legacy, the _curse_, would have died with you, if only you hadn't taken your own life so soon, if only you'd told him."

Skar could look forever at all the images and pictures around him, but saw nothing really there. This place, this death, it was as almost as real as any place he visited when he was alive, but it felt fake for some reason. Because he knew it wasn't real. Because it felt more like a cage that was holding him from the things he felt he wanted to do.

Rishi.

"Why tell me all this if there's nothing I can do about it? To give me a bad conscience? There was no way I could have known."

"You know now."

He frowned. "A little too late."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you remember our very first conversation?"

Skar smiled at the thought of their introduction. "I was such a fool back then...or, I was _also _a fool back then. Always trying to become what my family had been, thinking I could have it all in seconds."

"Kjoil blood flows eagerly."

He nodded in response, but wasn't convinced her words summed up all he was thinking. "It's funny; we spend our youth, _waste _our youth, trying to understand and find everything. It's only with age we realize we can never know anything really. Everything is subject to change; there are no infinite truths. All we can really do...is adapt, to the world around us as it changes."

She agreed. "You're right. It's comforting, isn't it?"

"But unnerving as well," he added.

"Why do you say that?"

Skar shrugged. "Seems...life would be one long run to catch up with everyone and everything. Would there ever be time to just sit down and take it all in?"

She finally approached him, locking her arms around his waist, her voice a whisper into his ear. "Well, it may be a little late to tell you now, since you're dead and all - "

He chuckled.

"But time isn't something you take, its something you're given, Skar. And life is not a run to catch up with the rest of the world. You choose your own pace, you find a rhythm in life where you're not exhausted and still feel you're seeing all you want. Its so simple that most people easily ignore it the truth of it."

He looked up. "I often wondered...how my life would have been if I hadn't been given the Force. Would I have met someone like you? Would I have been happy? Smarter?"

She chuckled. "Kind of pointless thoughts, aren't they?"

He guessed so. "You mean now?"

"I mean at all."

Skar found this new Shinran to be quite different from the one he remembered. "Hey, I remember you having the same kind of thoughts once."

She laughed. "Well, I never claimed to be well-balanced."

He laughed back and reached up to touch her hair. "I'm glad it was you."

She leaned her face in, kissing his cheek. "Me?"

"Yeah, not Kayupa or Master Bo-Hi." He couldn't help scanning their surroundings again. "Although I suspect they're somewhere in here too."

She nodded. "They are."

"What's keeping them?"

She kissed him again and fell into a whisper. "I told them we'd want to be alone."

He kissed her back. "Can we be alone forever?"

"No," she said bluntly.

Her answer dissapointed him. "Why not?"

"I don't control this place, Skar. And this is only temporary."

He hugged her close, afraid that she'd suddenly fade out of his life again. A dreadful feeling took hold of him. And fear seemed to follow quickly. "You were able to join with the Force...because of our son, right? That was what Master Bo-Hi tried to tell me when I was heading for Regana." The thought of their child filled him with all manner of terrors, unexplainable. "He's also here somewhere, isn't he?"

"He is," she said calmly. "He's dying to meet you."

He found strength in her warmth, the softness of her body inside his arms. "Is he..." he couldn't make himself say the words, because the answer terrified him, terrified him more than anything ever had back when he was alive. "Is he Skind's son?"

She gave a light chuckle. "Silly, he's our son."

How she could laugh at something like that disturbed him. "Shinran...I'm a clone of him. I am Skind Kjoil's clone."

Somehow she managed to laugh again. "Please, Skar. You're not - " she stopped talking and looked at him, a strange look on her face. "Oh, you really believe that?"

He found it impossible she didn't know, how could she not know the truth about him. "It makes sense, Shinran. I am him. I _am _Skind Kjoil."

Her hand reached up and touched his chin, and she smiled at him, nothing but love in her eyes. "Skar, I'm sure you already know this, but...clones can't breed."

_Clones can't breed._

_You have a family waiting for you on the other side, Skar. Shinran was pregnant._

_Shinran was pregnant_

_Pregnant._

_Clones can't breed._

_I never meant to break up the family._

Skar's insides illuminated instantly. He had to control his breathing, a confused joy fighting its way through all the darkness that previously infested him. That was the message Bo-Hi had tried to give him during their last conversation. He had been trying to help him, he'd known the full truth. The answer was right there, all this time.

_I'm not him._

_I'm not Skind._

He chuckled uneasily, tears forming at his eyes. _It was a lie. _He couldn't remember feeling this happy, so enlightened, so free of conflict. It seemed so long ago he hadn't felt disgusted by the very skin that covered him. So long ago that he'd been able to smile just at the thought of being alive.

His fluttering eyes looked over to their right, to see Kayupa standing there, leaning against a tree, smiling slyly as he always did.

Skar found he could smile back. "Thank you."

Kayupa shook his head. "Hey, I just motivated you, kid, got your mind where it needed to be. You never would lasted long without going insane. I had to make your last hours count."

Shinran held her arms around Skar, winking at Kayupa. "At least, that's one thing Kayupa's always been good for."

Skar grinned. "You wanted me to lose my mind?"

Kayupa shrugged, unable to shed his grin. "You fight better when you're angry. I know that better than anyone. You had to learn somehow."

"Well, you're the only one that ever got me riled up."

Kayupa held out his hands, a warm smirk on his face. "What are friends for?"

Skar laughed, nodding to himself. But even the jovial mood and the fact his origin had been reestablished, couldn't hide another angle of the truth.

"So...they're really my parents?"

Kayupa nodded. "Yes...but they can't be saved. Koll wants to destroy Coruscant to weaken the moral of the Republic's army, but in doing so he doesn't see that he will turn all of the Galaxy against him. That is the flaw in his plan. He's so in love with his own untold legend that he actually thinks the Galaxy will forgive him. Coruscant will be destroyed and it will unite the people of this Galaxy, but only if it is an enemy that does it in. He can't expect to be both a liberator and a savior."

Skar knew. "You talked to me while I was taken prisoner. You said all those things...so I'd die?"

Shinran nodded. "So I could tell you what you needed to know. You wouldn't trust Kayupa or Master Bo-Hi, but you trust me."

Skar could sense a hidden meaning in her words. "Told me what I needed to know?"

She tightened her hold on his hands. "As I said before; time is something you're given. And you are about to be given more time. Even in death there are choices to make. You have to set things right when you return."

"What?" He stared at her, unable to fathom what she was saying. "I can't go back! I have to stay here."

Kayupa pushed away from the tree and walked over to stand beside them. "You don't really have a choice, Skar. This is what must be done, what only you can do. No one can deliver the truth to Rishi but you."

Shinran leaned against him, her beautiful eyes looking up into his, a sad plea in them. Skar felt his jaw start to tremble and his arms locked tight around her.

"I can't risk losing you again."

She kissed his lips. "You never lost me in the first place, Skar. And you have to do this."

He took in a deep breath to tell her all the million reasons why he refused to go back. Why he couldn't. He couldn't let go of her again, what if something changed? What if he never saw her again? This was all he ever wanted.

"I can't walk away from you," his eyes welled, "I can't lose you."

Kayupa lifted his chin. "This goes beyond your sense of duty, kid. An army of Kjoil warriors lost to Darkness will kill the Force itself. When they draw upon the Force, they draw upon the very life of everything around them."

Even through his pain he knew what Kayupa was trying to really say. "The Force cannot be without life."

"Exactly," Shinran leaned her head against his chest, "and this place will no longer exist. You have to stop Rishi."

Her choice of words startled him. "What do you mean stop - ?"

Skar saw a light above him start to open up, and before he could fight it she and Kayupa stood back and he was buoyed off the floor, drifting slowly upwards into the light. He could hear voices on the other side, almost make out some faces. He started to feel fully alive again, he could feel himself slipping inside of a body as the Force flooded back into him.

And he looked down to see Shinran smiling through tears of joy, waving at him, Kayupa at her side, the two people that had mattered most to him.

His real family

"Go lightly down your path, Skar," Shinran said up to him. "Follow your heart."

Before he could respond, the light swallowed him and Skar formed a fist with his right hand and struck out, feeling it move through a gelatinous fluid before penetrating a glass pane. His hand ignited in pain and the pain shot up his arm, up his shoulder, into his brain, jolting his brain alive.

* * *

"Look out!" Raine shouted as he jumped back. The clone tank before him came to life, its prisoner suddenly lashing out, smashing the glass and breaking free. The clone stumbled out of the cylinder, attracting several cuts from the glass to its pure new untouched body. It walked like a zombie, unsteady on its feet and eyes completely blank. It managed to take one or two steps before folding and falling face-first hard onto the floor.

Junn slowly opened her tearful eyes, smiling at the breathing clone on the floor before her. She'd moved the soul of the Kjoil into this new clone, and seeing him there, feeling his soul and mind, right before her, she knew she had succeeded.

The clone laid on his stormach, learning to breathe again. His head moved around, inspecting the surroundings, studying his new body. He looked up at her and Raine, confusion clouding his eyes.

But only for a second.

His eyes settled on her, recognizing her.

Junn didn't bother to fight back her tears. Her voice stuttered when she spoke. "Welcome back."

He pulled himself up on his shaky arms, staring mesmerized at her. "You're...?"

"Yes," she said, twin tears rolling down her cheeks. "It's me, Skind."

Raine's eyes darted over to look at Junn. "What?"

The clone rose from the floor, bacta dripping from his limbs. But he looked at her with a clarity he didn't seem comforted by. His lips moved, trying to remember how to form words again.

"Wh - what are you doing here," his fresh face crunched up in despair, "Selia?"

* * *

The clone sat hunched down against the wall in the darkest corner, his head bowed and eyes closed. None had spoken with him in the hour that had passed since his rebirth. He was conscious but he'd closed himself off from the rest of them, and now it seemed he was thinking. The Force swarmed around in him in circles, energy forming inside and outside of his body.

Raine believed he was learning to use the Force again, and that he was also getting to grips with his situation. The old Jedi Master would honor that and give him the time he needed to reclaim himself. He lended his own strength to the clone, letting him pull upon the Force from him, helping him guide the current. It wasn't weakening him, but he definitely could sense a difference. Raine knew the clone was vital to their success and if he had to give everything he had, he would do so.

Junn had her mouth covered with an armored hand, crying softly into her palm. Her relation to the clone deeply concerned him, but considering what he'd experienced the last few weeks it was just another drop in the ocean.

Kast was awake again, and was studying them all from the other side of the room. Anger and frustration emanated from him, but he too had taken the role of an observer, feeling very left out among the Jedi sentients. He clung to his rifle since it was probably the only thing he still trusted, the only thing that still made sense.

Raine released a troubled sigh, turning his attention back to the sobbing Junn. "Explain it to me, Junn."

She wiped away her tears, focused on the pondering clone. "When the Emperor lost sight of the Skind Kjoil clone, after Jedi Master Bo-Hi Dzog switched the babies on Nar Shaddaa, he became desperate. He believed the clone would eventually remember everything that Skind Kjoil had created and that he also would remember Selia Iver, once he realized what he was. And so the Emperor created a clone of Selia Iver, to lure him out," she blinked, "he created _me_."

Raine hugged himself. "Did you know?"

"No," she said firmly, "I only realized when the clone brought me back to life. His energy passed through me and all the veils faded."

"Veils?"

She nodded. "Eknath was the one who blanketed my mind, who hid it from me."

Raine understood. "He was thinking like the Emperor, he wanted to lure out the clone."

"I think so," she responded, "which means he wanted the clone all along."

"No," Raine shook his head, "not the clone. His apprentice. Eknath allowed the clone to die, maybe fearing he was too unstabil, too uncontrollable. Eknath manipulated the Bothan on Coruscant as well, implementing the first stages of his control over Rishi. He puppetered all of this to bring the Kjoil apprentice out here."

Her eyes still gazed lovingly at the clone. "And it worked. All of his plans. A true prophet."

Raine was disturbed by the love in her eyes. "And what about your plan?"

Her lips sadly smiled, a daze in her eyes. "We were so strong together, me and him. We can have that back, and we will stop Eknath."

Raine took a step towards her, finding himself on shaky ground. "That wasn't you. And it wasn't _him_."

She wasn't listening. "We've been apart for so long...but fate brought us back together. I can feel her inside of me, her memories, her love for him. I feel it as though it was my own. And I know he feels the same way, Skind is going to emerge in him and we will be together again."

Raine wanted to protest her, but he could sense the power inside of her growing. Indeed she was powerful. To transport one soul from the netherworld was a feat very few had ever mastered. Any wrong word or sudden movement could provoke her to defend what she believed was true. "Junn, is this why you left Krych to die?"

Her smile faded slightly. "Krych was already dead," she nodded towards the clone, "and my path lies with him."

Kast moved in the corner, listening to a voice inside of his helmet. "Hate to break up this reunion, however twisted it might be," he made a sheepish grin, "but extract just arrived."

Raine's brows furrowed. "Extract? From where? Who?"

Startling them all the clone suddenly moved. He extended his legs, standing to full height, his legs shivering. But when his eyes opened there was a razor sharp readiness in them. "Tell 2L to open fire on the ground above us."

Kast looked dumbfound. "How did you know?"

He looked at them all, a clarity-filled gaze, his voice hard. "Its the _Koniduz_, my ship. 2L is my droid. I'm going to Anodyn to stop the Sons of Destiny. You can come with me or you can stay here and die. I'm not asking for your help, I am only offering you a ride out of here."

Kast stepped closer to the others. "How did the droid know?"

Skar looked to the commando. "He didn't, he just cares."

Junn rose and walked over to Skar. "I planned to call him for help too, Skind, but I needed you to - "

"No," he said clearly, "I _am not _him, I never was. You can entertain whatever illusions if you want, but if you're going to delay me with any of your sick obsessions or stand in my way, I'll leave you here, understood?"

Her face filled with shock. "No, you're wrong. You are him, I know it."

Skar's jaw hardened. "Staying then?"

She reached out for him. "You know as well as I do that you're the - "

"Right," he said, giving up on talking to her, looking up to the ceiling. "Step away from the center of this room. The _Koniduz _is going to blow through the surface any second."

Whatever surprise she felt, Junn still stood defiantly while the others stepped back, a feral snarl forming on her lips. The roof above them shook violently with the first blast, the second blast released a piece of ceiling that tumbled down and smashed into a million bits upon the dais.

The controls exploded in sparks and fire, while more hunks of structure rained down. Kast and Raine hugged the walls while Skar and Junn stared each other down, seemingly oblivious to the danger they were in.

Snow started pouring down into the room, like a sandbag slit open. Within the first minute the snow reached Skar to his shins, and Kast and Raine used whatever they could find to stay on top of the snow as it slowly filled the room.

Junn activated her jetpack and rocketed off into the snow, dissapearing from view inside of the avalanche. Skar dismissed her departure with a snort and then used the Force to lift Kast and Raine onto invisible cusions, elevating them up and through the gap in the ceiling.

When he sensed they were safely onboard the ramp of the _Koniduz_, he bent down and summoned all of the Force into himself, leaping like a launched missile from the floor and straight up through the room.

There were a few heartbeats of complete darkness before he cleared the planet's surface and continued to fly up through the air, feeling the wind tug at him. He touched down safely on the extended ramp of the _Koniduz_, brushing off the snow and stepping inside.

A second later the small RATM droid, Tracker, came flying through, buzzing excitedly. Skar paid it no mind as the ramp closed behind him with a loud clank, and he saw Raine and Kast lying on the floor by his feet, panting.

"You two alright?"

Kast pried off his helmet and laid out flat on the floor. "I'm good."

Raine managed to get onto his feet. "That was an impressive display of - "

"You're welcome," Skar said bluntly and walked past them both, picking up an old cloak of his from a compartment beneath his bunk on his way to the cockpit.

The _Koniduz _helped much of his mind settle back into place, many of his favorite memories had taken place inside the hold, and although he remained the same person he'd been before his death, his determination and willpower now had a force backing it up that would lay to waste anything that threatened to slow him down.

He ascended the stairs to the cockpit, finding Junn in the navigator's front seat. She was already working the controls while 2L stood beside her, complaining about a stranger taking his seat.

Skar dropped into the gunner's chair and almost smiled when the droid's dumb mechanical eyes found him. 2L droid tilted his head, obviously confused.

"Beg your pardon, sir, but who are you? _Who are any of you_?"

"A very good question," Junn said dryly, punching in the last coordinates for Anodyn.

Skar ignored her. "It's me, 2L. The guy whose apartment you clean."

"Master Skar?" the droid looked skeptical, as best as a droid could do so, "Master, you look so - "

"Different, I know. A lot's happened."

"So it would appear," the droid replied, shock still in his voice, "where is Master Rishi?"

Junn punched the ship into movement, moving its nose up to point at the stars, pushing it into full acceleration. "Rishi's lost," she said solemnly to Skar over her shoulder.

Skar nodded, his eyes blank. "I sense it too."

"Change of plans?"

Skar strapped himself in, reclining in the seat and closed his eyes. "No."

Her chair turned slightly, and she looked at him. "Do you think you can save him?"

Skar shrugged indifferently. "Rishi is going to have to save himself."

She turned the chair even more so they were fully facing each other, though Skar's eyes were aimed at the ceiling. "Look, you really need to understand this. You are a - "

"No," he said, barely any movement on his face. "There was never a switch. I was raised on Nar Shaddaa by Lwen Kando, my uncle, whom my parents intrusted to take care of me while they took off into the Unknown Regions. The real clone, Kayupa, was raised on Jeter by Master Bo-Hi Dzog who was supposed to kill him."

She refused to believe it. "But...the destruction. What you did after you escaped from your cell...it had Skind Kjoil written all over it. I could feel it. You gave me life - "

Skar's eyes fell down to look at her, a tried and drained look on his face. "I...am..._not_...him. And you are not Selia Iver."

"I know," she groaned. "But something has passed on to me."

He shook his head. "Only what you've allowed to. It's not real. When you don't know who you are, your mind does tricks on you. You had to choose between identities, and you chose Selia for some reason. I had to choose between Skind or myself, which had become a very intangible personality. I could have sat down and decided to go on living as Skind Kjoil. But I chose to go insane, was _made _to go insane, taking as many with me into death as I could. I didn't care."

She looked very dissapointed, and suddenly afraid. "I don't know why I did it...so much of her filled me. I can barely distinquish the two anymore. I'm not strong enough to be Junn. She failed - "

"She _lost_," Skar said, "and losing is something everyone experiences. Failure would be to not learn from our mistakes."

Her lips quivered. "I...I am not Junn. She never existed - "

"Yes, she did," Skar reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "I met her. She was a good soldier, a cunning warrior."

Her eyes welled up and she started to shiver. "I can't remember her. I hoped meeting Krych would give her back, but he'd changed so much. Or maybe I'd changed. We both did. I was empty inside when I saw him. All that gave me hope was finding you, all of my feelings guided me towards you." Tears flowed down her face. "You were all that made sense."

He sat forward in the chair and hugged her to his chest, letting her cry in his embrace. Oddly enough he was the one who felt empty inside. But he knew he could give her comfort like this, even if it wasn't what she really wanted. She had a lifetime of tears that needed to be freed and he needed her ready for the fight ahead of them. She trembled inside his arms and he held on to her tightly as she cried fiercely.

"Krych..." she stuttered, "I'm so sorry."

Skar remembered the man, they'd fought outside in Regana's snow. He hadn't been himself at the time but he remembered Krych fighting bravely for her protection. "He loved you very much."

"He loved _her_, he died trying to avenge _her_," she pointed out, clinging to him, "and she's gone."

The upper layer of clouds passed outside the viewscreen and Skar witnessed stars fall into view. He finally smiled, the stars always had that impact on him, they always brought him back to a center. He remembered talking to Kast in the cave shortly before their march into Hope's Haven.

_The stars…each time I look at them, it feels like I'm becoming someone else. When I left Nar Shaddaa behind to become a Jedi, it was the first time I really saw the stars up close. So close I felt like I could reach them, touch them. It was a turning point for me. _

Skar hugged her closely. "I need you," he spoke softly into her ear, "you can fall into this confusion and completely lose everything you have. Or you can use it, and become stronger than you've ever been. You _have _a choice."

She pulled away from his chest but stayed close to him, looking up at him with smudged tears on her cheeks. "What do you need?"

He smiled down at her, and with his hands on the side of her head, his thumbs wiped away her tears. "I need _Eulogy_."

* * *

Onboard the _Masamune_, things weren't going as planned. Eknath had been given reports of strange deaths onboard the ship, an unexplainable string of casualties among the soldiers. No cause of death had been located as of yet, but rumors had begun spreading about a virus picked up on Regana. Eknath knew that such a possibility was ludicrous. There was no sign of any illness among the men while they had been on Regana and no one had dropped dead on their own until now.

But Death was onboard the ship and slowly moving through its halls, or so everyone believed. Eknath realized what was happening could be described as a virus, because like any virus it was acting on sheer instinct and need to survive.

But the carrier had been at his side ever since they'd left Regana. He neglected to alert anyone to the true face of this silent killer, to safeguard its host. He remained immune so far, but only because he had unraveled the mystery.

To call Rishi a virus...how little they knew.

What he could not ignore and what they could not sense, was that the Dark Side itself had been brought onboard the _Masamune _as well, and it was currently residing within the soul of his new apprentice. Rishi may have believed he could withstand its effects initially, but now he was completely lost. He spent his days meditating, growing, building the Force inside of him, sucking up life all around him. His Kjoil heritage was draining everything around him of color and soul, while he grew stronger.

And stranger.

Eknath remained impervious because he understood the nature of the disease, if it could be called that. He could close himself off from Rishi's malicious pull, and watch in admiration. He had tried to teach Joon how to do what Rishi had acheived, but Joon had been a stupid choice for an apprentice, he knew that now. He could wield a lightsaber extremely well, perhaps the best swordfighter there ever was, but not even Joon could kill by his mere presence.

Eknath reached out and caressed Rishi's head, touching the pearls of perspiration running down his face, gleaming with pride.

"My flame."

Rishi's eyes slowly opened, and even after hours of meditation they still looked dry and drained, empty of heart and soul. His pupils were two black circles around a white core, his dry lips smacking slowly for water, minimal breath moving in and out, almost wheezing.

Eknath bent down before him, smiling. "Something has changed. Do you sense it?"

Rishi's eyes moved here and there, but focused on nothing. "Yes," his voice trembled as he spoke. "A tremor in the Force."

"No, dear boy. This is not a tremor. This is..." his eyes squinted and he moved his hand down to hold on to Rishi's shoulder. "Are you sure there isn't something about your previous Master that you've forgotten to tell me?"

Rishi's head bowed, as though he didn't have the strength to hold it upright on his own. "You said he was still alive."

Eknath was sure of that. "Everything I know about the Force tells me so. When he fell, the Force changed. However, it did not reach a full equilibrium. Something was resolved, but not everything. The Force was strengthened, but not enough. And now there is another disturbance. A new one."

Rishi sat upright only by the support of Eknath's hand. "Another?"

Eknath thought of Junn, who'd begun to exhibit her own disturbance after she'd come into control of the Force. But Rishi had no knowledge of her, and he didn't feel obliged to tell him about her. She'd served her purpose, even though she'd never functioned the way he had intended. She was meant to draw out the clone, but Sasa had beat him to it. Surely she must've died in the destruction of Hope's Haven.

"Skind's spirit still moves on this plane. However the man your Master knew as Kayupa has moved fully to the netherworld of the Force, his ties to your old Master now severed in his death."

Rishi swayed gently back and forth in his seating. "That means...Skind must still have a connection to someone...someone living."

Eknath realized he was right. Skind Kjoil's spirit still roamed this reality because of his ties to Junn, who was a clone of his former love. And that also meant that Junn was still alive, even though he couldn't sense her anymore. He found it interesting that Rishi could come across this truth before he could, but it only proved his faith that Rishi was going to become an exceptional being, the brightest of all his apprentices.

If he survived his own growth.

"I don't know what this means, dear boy," he lied. "You must continue your training."

Rishi's head moved up slightly. "If Skind's soul is still active...maybe that proves Master Skar is still alive."

Frowning, Eknath rose and collected his cloak around him. "Do not ponder these matters so heavily, my young apprentice. All will be revealed with time. And in time we shall root out this disturbance for our mutual benifit, for our glorious future."

Rishi remained upright and fell into meditation again, his mind lost upon the currents of the Dark Side. Eknath left him there and turned to Jovis, who stood at the entrance to their training room, a concerned look on his face.

"Is he alright?" the Mandalorian commander asked.

Eknath ascended the stairs and stood next to Jovis. "He will be...giving oneself to Darkness is never easy. But once he learns to control it, he will stronger than ever."

Jovis didn't look comforted. "It doesn't look...healthy."

Eknath grimaced. "He is moving beyond the boundaries of his body. Soon, healthy or not, it won't matter. The Dark Side will him keep alive."

Jovis pushed himself away from the wall. "Still no word on this mysterious virus."

Eknath pretended to be dissapointed. "It could be something in the air circulation. At least you and I still remain untouched."

Jovis touched his jaw with an open hand, rubbing the sides, clearly anxious. "We'll be arriving at Anodyn within the hour. What do you want me to tell the men?"

Eknath hinted at a smile. "Tell them I want them in full armament. Once we've reached Anodyn our forces will transfer to our own ships, only a handful of soldiers need remain behind to pilot the destroyers, along with our captured captains. Koll will not give up his leadership so easily, but he must. He's a danger to our mission, our destiny."

Jovis didn't look pleased, but he nodded nonetheless. "It will be done."

Eknath elaborated. "The Destroyers will remain in orbit, ready for departure. I only need to..." he looked for the right phrasing, "_stop _Riokon and his wife. But to do so I must ruin their integrity. I must show the soldiers that they are unfit for command. Once that is achieved, we will launch with all of the force that the Sons of Destiny have berthed at Anodyn."

The commander looked to Eknath. "How do you intend to destroy their integrity?"

Eknath locked his thin fingers around Jovis's shoulder and led him out of the chamber. "I have some very special information that will unravel the union between Koll and Sasa, it will turn them against each other, proving their incompetence."

The doors to Rishi's chamber closed behind them. Jovis tried to psyche himself up for the struggle ahead, knowing happily that not much was required on his part. "I've waited a long time for this war, this is my birthright. My heritage. This is what my people lived for."

Eknath chuckled. "Yes. You are finally stepping into the boots of your great forebearers, becoming as resourceful and competent as they were. Jango Fett would have been proud of you."

Jovis liked the sound of that. "Will you need me on Anodyn?"

"No, my apprentice and I will take a lone shuttle down," Eknath said, "move yourself onto one of our own ships and maintain command. Once matters on Anodyn are dealt with, I will rejoin you."

Jovis nodded. "And our prisoner?"

Eknath's eyes widened. "Ah, yes. Jedi Ulani. I had almost forgotten about him."

Although he knew there was no way Rishi could hear them, he still kept his voice low. "I have a feeling you're not too pleased he's still alive."

"And how observant of you," Eknath chuckled again. "While my apprentice and I are on Anodyn, feel free to...dispose of him."

Jovis smiled, thrilled at the prospect of killing the Jedi. "It will be done. In Jango Fett's name."

Eknath smiled supremely. "I have a feeling he would be very honored to know his unfair murder is not forgotten by his epigones."

* * *

The cargo hold of the _Koniduz _had never seen so much life. Kast was checking through all of his armor and gear for the hundredth time, making sure everything was functional and ready for whatever battle they were headed towards. He did so in a quiet meditative state where his actions seemed to flow on muscular memory more than intent. All the while his eyes flashed from one of his new allies to the other, an uncertain frown upon his face that revealed his inner thoughts about the whole thing.

2L and Tracker had instantly hit it off and were now comparing their harddrives and functions off one another, 2L as always speaking in a pitched voice, while Tracker responded with a series of whistles and buzzes, but equally loud. 2L seemed geuninely impressed with his newfound comrade's capabilities while Tracker seemed less intriqued by 2L's constant complaints and nanny-ing.

Jedi Master Raine sat secluded in a corner that was vaguely touched by the hold's illumination. Feet on kneecaps, he searched through the flow of the Force for answers that had long eluded him, as well as pulling strength to his tired old body, healing the wound in his chest. Anyone that tried to read his mind would find only emptiness and loneliness, as well as a growing fear that his end would soon catch up to him.

Skar and Junn dined at the only table inside the hold, comparing information and thoughts about everything that had happened on Regana. Skar listened only with half an ear, while the rest of his attention was drawn to the nagging feeling inside of him, the feeling of yearning to be there, to be done with it all.

Through his meeting with Shinran he had been able to see the future and knew what he had to do once they reached Anodyn, but the Force was flimsy regarding answers at best. It showed him what needed to be done, but not the path that would lead him there. Never had he felt so impatient, and even though Junn's stories and perspectives were interesting, a great part of him longed for silence.

Silence or Shinran's voice. Whichever would come first. One of them would very soon, if not both. He supposed he should have been questioning everything he'd seen, what he had experienced. He'd been through death and back, but there was no analyzing it. His mind had found a drive that looked only one way. He would defeat Koll, Sasa and Eknath, and he would save Rishi from his mistakes.

He supposed the only strange thing was that he wasn't fearing the future at all. All doubt had left him and replaced with only clarity. It was simple in his head, but he knew reality wouldn't match up. In reality he was going to kill his father and his mother, defeat a very powerful Dark Side follower, and possibly kill his own apprentice. He would stand against an army of thousands, against a fleet unlike anything the Galaxy had ever seen. He would chase Shinran through the deaths of thousands.

"...Eknath must have tampered with their minds as well," Junn finished, "Koll and Sasa knew Selia Iver. Granted that was long ago, but I find it strange they never made the connection."

Skar looked blankly at the floor next to their table. "Same thing happened with Kayupa," he said calmly, "over the years he grew more and more into his own person. So much I never saw the resemblance. I idolized them both, loved them both for what they were."

She raised an eyebrow. "You realize the irony, don't you? You thought you were Skar Kjoil, then you were told you were Skind Kjoil. Now you've been brought back, knowing you're Skar Kjoil, but put in the clone of Skind Kjoil."

His face showed no change. "I always wanted to be like my uncle."

She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I - "

"Did you meet Rishi?" he cut her off.

She nodded, a little worried. "Kind of. I tried helping Rishi, giving him advice, telling him to stay out of all this. But he's a stubborn one. Losing you, I guess his pain built up barriers I couldn't break through."

Skar almost smiled. "Sounds like him, alright."

"When I realized it wasn't going to work, I tried steering him towards greater power. Something that would help him reflect Eknath's mind control."

Skar exhaled, his features sharpening. "The last thing Rishi needs is more power."

She looked down into her hands. "I understand that now. I meant well."

Skar blinked. "Don't worry."

She looked back up, trying to read him. She hesitated for a moment, until her fear wouldn't stay hidden anymore. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

Skar still stared at the floor, but his jaw tightened and his eyes dampened. "He has become a threat...to everything. But I'm afraid whether or not I'll have to kill him, is entirely up to him."

She shook her head, appalled to hear him say that. "This cannot happen. You're the last of the Kjoil. This world needs you two."

"Needs us, yes," Skar rose from the table and finally looked at her, a playful look upon his face, "but not the way you think."

Across the room the young Republic commando suddenly got up and strolled decisively to join Jedi Master Raine in his corner. The Jedi's eyes opened as he approached and instantly radiated worry. Kast dropped down on one knee in front of the little man, rifle hanging from his shoulder. Kast created an eye contact with Raine no lightsaber could slice through.

"You killed them."

Raine titled his head slightly. "Did I?"

"Yes," Kast said firmly.

Raine unlocked his fingers and placed his hands on his thighs, releasing a apprehensive groan. "Listen to me, Kast; I regret what I had to do, but I'm certain the events that awaits us on Anodyn will show you why what happened, had to happen."

Kast's face crunched up in anger, his lips becoming a snarl. "Don't give me that...sanctimonious destiny babble. You killed my brothers, my teammates. Clear and simple. It was your hand on the blade."

Raine nodded. "And I spared you."

"Why?"

Raine was particularly affected by Kast's pain. He maintained his ever stoic presence, his confidence unshattered. "Only the Force knows."

"So I'd learn?" Kast offered. "To give me pain? I have seen more pain in my short life than anyone else. I have fought on more planets than anyone could ever visit."

Raine's eyes looked beyond the ship, a small smile forming on his lips. "With pain comes knowledge and understanding. With each death of your teammates you began to understand the ails of this world. You may not understand the Force, but that doesn't mean you are not affected by it. There is a will, an idea, behind everything that happens in this world, Kast. Sometimes understanding comes slower than we would like, but I'm sure it will find you eventually."

Kast kept his hard stare, but the salty water forming in his eyes finally caved and he had to bow his head to hide it. His shoulders shuddered. "I still see them...dying right before me. And I couldn't help them."

Raine reached out and touched Kast's shoulder. "For whatever purpose the Force wanted to spare you, I do not understand either. But, as always, I'm sure I'll understand the truth of it far sooner than I would like."

Skar led Junn to the center of the cargo hold and knelt down on the floor. His hands touched the floor and he uncovered a hidden panel. Punching in a code, an entire segment of the floor opened up and revealed a weapons storage underneath the floor. Raine and Kast joined them and Kast let out an impressed whistle.

Skar stood back. "I've been putting this together over the years, collecting artifacts and memorabilia from my journeys. Feel free to take whatever you can use."

The weapon storage contained everything from heavy rifles to blaster pistols, different kinds of armor and gear, lightsabers, as well as more archaic hand-to-hand weaponary. Every was kept so preserved and clean that one might venture he kept it more as a physical photo-album to remind him of past adventures.

Kast walked around the compartment and something caught his attention. He bent down and ran his hand over another suit of armor. "This...its Dragon Tooth gear. Only better. More like the ones the Sons of Destiny are using."

Skar nodded. "Yeah, next generation. Luke thought I might like it."

Kast raised an eyebrow. "Luke Skywalker..._stole _it for you?"

Skar chuckled. "People in power don't steal. They _acquire_. You can have it if you want."

Kast looked like he definetely wanted it, but wasn't sure it was right to take a prototype. It had to be worth thousands. Kast turned his eyes over to Junn. "What about you?"

Junn looked unimpressed by the weaponary on display. "I'm fine."

The commando looked over her arcane armor. "Look, Mandalorian armor _was _top of the line, but that was decades ago. The Sons of Destiny are going to run right over you."

Junn's frosty eyes met Kast's. "I _trained _them. I know what they can do, and what they _can't_." Her face had an apathetic look to it. "Besides, I won't be going up against them."

While Kast helped himself, Skar walked around the compartment to face Raine. "You've got Rishi's lightsaber."

The short Jedi Master nodded. "Yes."

Skar held out his hand. "Give it to me."

Raine's brows furrowed a bit, but he retrieved the lightsaber from his belt and dropped it into Skar's palms. The clone weighed it in his hand for a few seconds, many thoughts passing behind his eyes before he clipped it to his belt.

Simple as that, it was his.

Raine didn't like feeling unarmed. "What do you have for me, then?"

Skar held out his hand to the compartment, at the lightsaber section. "Take anything you like."

Raine was unhappy he couldn't get to keep Rishi's lightsaber, but Skar had an aura about him that said nothing was debatable. Raine hunched down on one knee and grasped the first lightsaber he could reach. It was simple and plain-looking.

Skar nodded. "That one belonged to Hayt Kjoil. One of the Epigones I met on Draori."

Raine activated the weapon, a shimmering red blade extending from his palm. "Why did you keep it?"

Skar gave the Jedi Master a very cold grin. "It was all that was left of him."

Raine was not amused. "The blade is _red_."

He shrugged indifferently. "Yeah. Take it or leave it. It's all I got," he said dryly and walked away from the compartment.

Kast collected all the gear he wanted and wanted to talk to Skar about the mission ahead. He ran to catch up with the man but Skar was at the cockpit before he reached him. Kast dropped his new clothes and weapons into the gunner's seat.

"What's the mission?" Kast asked.

Skar didn't turn around. "Mission?"

"Yeah, don't you have a plan?"

Skar scoffed. "Sure. Junn's going to kill Eknath. I am going to get Koll and Sasa."

Kast didn't like the indifferent tone in his voice. "And...the rest of us?"

"I'm sure you'll find something to keep you occupied."

Kast rolled his eyes and started to have second thoughts about the whole thing. Their leader was bordering on suicidal, and they were heading into a sector filled to the brim with hostiles.

"Worst plan I ever heard. We need - "

"The key to battle is adapting within a second," Skar interrupted, his voice flat and emotionless. "If there's no plan, adapting comes much easier. Just follow my lead."

This was insane. Kast started stabbing the air with his finger and raised his voice. "There are thousands of soldiers on the planet's surface! Ground vehicles! Capital starships and thousands of starfighters!"

Skar turned slowly, irritation burning in his new eyes. "Feel free to stay on the ship if you want, but _don't _get in my way. This isn't a get-in-and-get-out mission. All those soldiers and their weapons don't matter if we take out the key leaders; Eknath, Sasa, Koll and Rishi."

Kast shook his head. "It won't stop the soldiers."

"No," Skar said firmly, and for once some hope appeared in his eyes. "But it will save the future."

Kast's guts turned into duracreate in a second. "This is a...suicide mission?" he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

Skar didn't so much as blink. "All missions are, Kast."

The young man started shaking his head. His jaw moved, but no real words came out. "I don't...I can't...I'm not ready to die. I didn't fight my way out of one hell to die in another."

Again that careless look. "Then stay here."

Kast felt like beating someone, felt like running but there was nowhere to go. "I can't do that."

Skar faced Kast fully and raised an interested eyebrow. "Then _what _can you do?"

The commando looked at the walls of the cockpit around him, looking for answers, a way. Seeking something that would help him understand everything. Going into a hot zone of enemies, all to save some future, it was out of his league. He didn't understand these things. He hadn't been trained for this.

"Walking away is a choice, Kast," some empathy touched Skar's voice. "I won't think any less of you. This is bigger than the Republic and the Sons of Destiny. This is the fate of the world as we know it. Whose hands do we leave it in? Who is best suited to take care of it?"

Kal had said the same things to him back on Regana, and he'd believed them. And they'd helped him through their fighting. But that mission had a chance of survival. This had less than zero chance of walking away alive. "I already walked away once, and Kal brought me back. He reminded me that I owed you. But this..."

Skar shook his head. "You don't owe me anything. Especially not your life."

"This is too big for me," Kast said. "I don't belong here. I'm - "

"You wouldn't be here, if the Force didn't have a role for you."

Kast wanted to believe that, but he couldn't. He didn't know the Force. He'd seen what Jedi could do but it was their world, not his. He lived in a world where his rifle was the only thing keeping him alive, not some supernatural power. "I'm not ready to die. You have to tell me more," Kast implored. "I don't understand this. I'm just a soldier. You told me to question my orders, but now - "

"Now you're not a soldier," Skar said matter-of-factly. "No one's ordered you do anything. You've been paid to kill in the past, you've been honored for your ability to do so. But can you aim a weapon at another man for something other than money? Can you find something to believe in?"

That conversation again. Kast remembered his talk with Skar, who had then gone by the name of Jarod, inside the mountain back on Regana. "I believed in you..._Jarod_."

The mention of that name brought no change to Skar's voice. "Do you still?"

Oddly enough he found that he did. He believed that the clone knew what he was doing and that the clone believed it was the right thing to do. He supposed he had to believe in it too, if he had to help the man.

"I do."

Skar smiled brilliantly. "Then that's all you really need, isn't it?"

Kast tried to exhale all his fear and confusion, tried to push away his despair and think of things in the simple lines that Skar had laid out for him. "I know you mean to do good. And that you understand what good is in a way I never could."

Skar walked forward, grasping Kast's shoulder. "Then fight for me. Fight _with_ me."

Kast nodded, feeling an invisible armor cover him, a layer of confidence that would protect him as much as it could. The rest he would have to do on his own. "What do you need?"

Skar made a wicked smile. "I won't know till we get there."

* * *

The _Star Orchid'_s jets whined as it lowered onto the landing pad of the castle, an immense construction of old shaped duracrete placed at the peak of a great mountain. It was said that no castle on Alderaan or Naboo could have contended with the majestry of the Riokon estate, its sheer size and elegance shadowing any architecture either Koll or Sasa had ever seen in their lifetime. The highest spire held their rooms and home, a massive disc of a balcony surrounding their exquisite home.

Perfect clouds trailed over their home, mocked by a brilliant pure blue sky with rays of sunlight piercing the clouds. The region of mountains that housed their home had mesmerizing green fields of untouched cross to the south while Anodyn's largest ocean could be seen from the north. The base of the mountain stretched out into an untouched beach, a series of rock-formations popping up through the water, resembling dragons.

One could walk from one side of the balcony at the top of the spire, from a view of beautiful natural fields to a magnificent ocean view. It was something Sasa had requested when they'd first begun designing their new home.

No soldiers lived in the castle, though Junn and Krych and the rest of their inner circle each had their own quarters. The military that lived on the surface of the planet, did so in a giant facility miles away from the castle. The castle was a fortress, unreachable by foot and protected by electromagnetic shields and automated enforcements, though neither had ever seen use.

Only a handful of air separated Koll and Sasa as they descended the _Orchid_'s ramp, yet to Koll it might have been a million miles. She was as far away from him as the answers to the questions that put her there. Seeds of doubt had been planted in him by Skind's ghost and despite his desire to ignore it, he knew that was when things went bad. He couldn't discount that maybe she hadn't been completely honest with him.

And the feeling was tearing him up inside. He had to hide it from her, he had to be sure. He had to find time alone to think things through. Everything had happened so fast within the last few weeks and he hadn't had the time to analyze all the facts and perspectives he'd been given.

What if the greatest threat to all he was trying to acheive was walking right next to him? What if everything they had planned had been spoiled from the very beginning? What if the one person he dared to trust without a doubt, was the one waiting to destroy him? The Dark Side had taken hold of him again since Elemos and his encounter with the Sith's henchmen. The very same Sith that was now lost without a trace.

"You okay?" she asked.

He was startled out of his thoughts and looked around, seeing the perfect placement of the bricks in the landing pad, seeing the sun overwhelm his eyes out to the west. Breathing in the air that somehow smelled of home. He forced a smile and looked at her. "Just glad to be home again, my dear."

She reached out to hold his hand. "Wouldn't know it by looking at you."

"I'm still back on Elemos," he said, "trying to figure out what went wrong and how we can fix it."

She squeezed his hand. "Things have a way of working themselves out. We can't change what happened, but it was probably meant to be. Eknath and the others will be here soon, and our mission goes on, right?"

"Of course."

"Look," she nodded down the landing pad, "it's Galad."

Koll smiled genuinely seeing the man. Galad was the keeper of the castle, an honest man that had served them over many years. In his wake followed five servants in crisp uniforms, each with a smile on their face.

"General Riokon," Galad announced when they were within talking distance, "I am surprised. I thought you would be returning with the entire army behind you."

Koll shook the man's hand. "They are not far behind, my good man. I trust you've been keeping the men busy while we were gone?"

"By your orders, General. I challenge you to find a speck of dust anywhere."

Koll chuckled warmly. The sight of Galad and the sound of his voice brought Koll back to before their trip to Regana, back when he understood everything, back when things made sense and there weren't serpents behind any bush waiting to strike. "If only my eyes were good, Galad. Has there been any word from the army?"

Galad nodded. "Master Eknath contacted us from the _Masamune _just a little while ago. He should be arriving very soon."

"I hope not too soon," Sasa said and slipped her arm around Koll's waist.

Koll fought the urge to fend her off, her closeness made him feel unsafe. Something quite different. "I think my wife longs for her own bed. We've never been away from home this long before." He looked up, at the magnificent castle looming over the entrance of the landing pad. "And her precious view."

Sasa grinned and hugged Koll even closer. "I hope to have at least a short glimpse before we leave again."

Galad smiled. "Then I shall not take up more of your time. Are there any orders you want me to carry out before I retire?"

Koll knew he had to think in management and strategic terms again and the thought weighed heavily on him. "Yes...yes, have the ground forces at the bastion suit up and tell them to occupy our orbital ships as quickly as possible. I doubt it will be long after Eknath's return that we depart for Coruscant. We'll leave behind a stationary group at the bastion, but all ships must be ready for departure."

Galad bowed. "It will be as you command, General."

"Also; have men transport the cargo onboard the _Orchid _to our chambers."

Sasa looked up at him suddenly. "The clone? Why?"

Galad looked confused. "Clone, sir?"

"It's a very long story, Galad," Koll explained, "our initial use for the cargo has deteriorated, but hastened action is unwise. I want to be absolutely sure we don't need it before it is discarded."

Galad bowed again. "As you wish." He turned and motioned for the servants. The five servants marched past Koll and Sasa as they walked towards the _Star Orchid'_s ramp entrance.

Sasa still had her arm around Koll. "You think the Sith will resurface?"

He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling Darth Eclipos would seek his revenge for their betrayal. Koll realized he was hoping the Sith Lord would come to him this time, since they had no leads to go on. If word somehow got out that they didn't have the clone anymore, it lessened the chance for the encounter he wanted.

"We're not done with him...why should he be done with us?"

* * *

The _Masamune _and the _Ronin _pulled out of hyperspace, the two massive starships sailing onwards towards the blue and green planet of Anodyn. But even as grand and menacing as the sight of two Imperial Star Destroyers were, they were quickly dwarfed by the already present fleet of the Sons of Destiny fleet.

A ring of fifty _Watchmen _ships circled the planet on a constant orbit, bow to stern, forever tailing each other at a very slow pace. Each slug-like ship had smaller fighters buzzing around it like flies, an impenatrable ring of defense protecting the planet. Already transports were launching from the planet's surface, filling the _Watchmen _with soldiers and equipment.

The final preparations for their strike on Coruscant was already underway.

The _Masamune _and the _Ronin _settled into place alongside the ring of _Watchmen_, and soon transports fled from the Destroyers and boarded the _Watchmen_, moving the remaining soldiers from the doomed Destroyers onto the more familiar surroundings of their own capital ships.

One small shuttle leaving the _Masamune _broke the pattern. Carrying Eknath and Rishi, the small shuttle left the stream and shot by the _Watchmen_, soon breaching Anodyn's atmosphere.

And no sooner had it faded from view among the clouds, than a third small ship broke out of hyperspace and swooped in towards the many enemy ships.

The _Koniduz_.

* * *

"Wow," Kast muttered, standing next to Junn in the navigator's seat, seeing the overwhelming size of his enemy's fleet. "I mean...wow! You guys have been busy."

Junn ignored him and kept the ship on a steady course towards Anodyn and the maze of hostile ships in front of them. "The _Watchmen _are a borrowed design," she explained dryly, "Koll met a group on one of his missions and stole the schematics to their ships. He built an entire fleet of them calling on favors from some of the largest shipyards in the Unknown Regions."

Raine stood on the other side of her, his face becoming more grim with each second they closed in on the planet. "I never thought I'd find myself thinking up weaknesses on our ships."

Junn snorted. "Don't bother. There are none. The _Watchmen _are a brilliant design. We don't stand a chance against their firepower or numbers."

Kast's eyes widened. "Then what do we do?"

Skar sat behind Junn in the gunner's seat, a very out of place calm look on his face. "We fly faster. Our battle is not in the stars, its on the surface of the planet."

Kast raised a skeptical eyebrow and held out a hand at the view. "And how do you suggest we sneak through that?"

Junn smirked. "Watch this," she hailed the command ship of the fleet. "_Watchman Zero_, this is the _Koniduz_, respond please."

A second later a man with much authority in his voice responded. "_Koniduz_, this is the captain of _Watchman Zero_...I went over your ship's identity package. You're very far away from home. I suggest you turn around and head back to Coruscant before you find yourself blasted to bits."

Junn's face tightened. "Suggest you watch that tone, captain," she replied, "I didn't pull your butt through boot camp to have you throwing threats at me."

The man hesitated. "...Junn? Lady Junn?"

She smiled confidently. "That's right, captain. I had to take a different route home. I have Master Raine with me as well. Do you mind getting the door for us?"

The man grinned. "Welcome home, Lady Eulogy. We heard rumors of your death. I am glad to hear they were just rumors. Your path will be cleared, lieutenant."

Ahead, two _Watchmen _broke the ring, leaving a breach in their perfect orbit of the planet. The _Koniduz _sped up

Junn looked up and winked at Kast. "Thank you, captain."

The connection died.

Kast smiled, a bit red in the cheeks. "I don't know why I hadn't even thought of that."

Skar rose from his seat, an unimpressed look on his face. "Don't worry about it, Kast. I didn't bring you along for your ability to think."

Raine was hugging himself. "How does the Kjoil Master suggest we destroy all these ships?"

Skar shook his head. "We don't. That's not why we're here."

Junn looked up at him. "Koll and Sasa, right?"

"Eknath and Rishi, too," he said, eyeing the space ahead. "Looks like they're getting ready." His eyes fluttered. "Rishi is on that small shuttle, the one that just broke through atmosphere."

Junn checked her readings. "It's headed for the castle. Are we going after it?"

Skar thought for a few moments. "No...not yet. First; we're going to make a visit for that bastion you mentioned. It should be relatively clear of enemies with all of them moving out."

Kast looked at him over his shoulder. "Relatively?"

Skar sniggered. "Well...I'll be there to give them a lesson in relativity."

The _Koniduz _drifted slowly through the gap in the Watchmen ring, and tension in the cockpit lifted slightly now that their enemies were behind them. Anodyn grew larger and finally filled all of their viewscreen.

"What's the mission at the bastion?" Raine asked.

Before Skar could answer, Junn sprung into activity at the controls. "Wait! Look," she pointed at another shuttle leaving one of the Star Destroyers, heading for the nearest _Watchmen _cruiser, "Jovis and the Jedi. They're onboard that shuttle."

Kast stepped forward. "Kal?"

"Yes," she answered, "I can feel it." She brought up the shuttle's frequency and hailed it. A little edge was in her voice when she announced herself. "Shuttle _Vermilion_, this is the _Koniduz_. Lieutenant Junn speaking."

The reply took a while before coming back, the shuttle continuing on its intended course. "This is _commander _Jovis," he replied, emphazing his rank. "Lieutenant, I felt sure we had lost you on Regana."

Her jaw ground itself. "You weren't that lucky, Jovis. And your luck is going to continue on a descent course. I want the Jedi."

He chuckled. "Sorry to dissapoint you, Junn. But he belongs to me - " the connection filled with noises of a struggle, groans and then a whimper. Someone else took hold of the microphone and a much friendlier voice came through.

"This is the pilot of shuttle _Vermilion_, Lieutenant Junn. As per your...instructions, we will be settling down at the bastion on Anodyn's surface, where you may collect the Jedi as you please."

Junn smiled supremely, recognizing the voice of another soldier she'd trained and instructed long ago. "Thank you."

Kast and Raine gazed stunned at each other, then at Junn, before their eyes finally reached around to Skar, who only gave them a nod and a knowing smile.

"Yes...that is our mission at the bastion. We're going to need him."

"You knew this was going to happen. You saw it." Raine faced the Kjoil clone fully, wonder and confusion upon his face. "Does the Force tell you?"

"Yes."

Raine looked lesser. "Everyone seems to have grown but me. The Force still eludes me. I see no path."

Skar looked like he couldn't care less. Through the Force, and through their conversations he knew what bothered Raine and the fact that he understood where Raine's path would lead him should have weighed on his heart, but it meant nothing. It was just another piece of the puzzle. He would do nothing to help Raine avoid his fate, because his fate was a large factor of his plan.

In his past life, before he died, he would have warned Raine, but not this time. He wouldn't disturb fate anymore. All he had to do was stop Rishi, whatever the cost. He would set everything right. But convinced as he was, he still had to swallow a lump before saying those fateful words.

"Raine, your path is detached from ours. I want you to go to the castle."

Raine shook his head. "I can't fight them."

Skar looked the old man in the eyes. "You trusted me enough to go with me on this mission. Trust me now when I say that is where you must be."

The Jedi Master's eyes looked to the floor, a crestfallen expression on his face as if he felt it too. "Is that what the Force tells you? What you have seen?"

Skar kept himself in check. "It is your destiny."

He knew, it was all over him. "You know what will happen to me. You know the future."

Skar nodded. "Yes."

"And that look upon your face tells me you don't want to tell me."

"The look on _your _face tells me I don't have to."

Raine resembled a man being given a handful of answers but didn't know which one to choose. "What...must I do?"

Words came from Skar on their own, read from a script even he could not understand where came from. "You will know when your time has come."

Raine seemed resigned with his future, a content but sad expression on his face. "Fate has swept away our kind...as must I follow."

Skar nodded and accepted it at that. Master Bo-Hi had thought those exact same words the day Kayupa had killed him. He remembered Bo-Hi's feeling flooding through him when he died, and it encouraged him to reach out to Raine's shoulder and tell him something more. Words he wished he could have had the chance to tell Master Bo-Hi back then.

"You did what you felt to be the right thing...always. There's no shame in that."

Raine almost smiled but the rest of his face carried too much sorrow for the moment to end joyously.

"Thank you," he said softly, "Master Kjoil."

Skar wished he could have smiled himself, but he just couldn't. "May the Force be with you, Jedi Master Raine. Would be strange for it to lose sight of you now." His eyes went to the commando. "Kast, you and I are going to save Kal. Tracker will go with us. 2L will stay onboard the _Koniduz _and provide support if needed with the ship's cannons. I will create a distraction while you get him out. Be careful, Jovis will be keeping him company."

Kast nodded, but he wasn't entirely onboard. "You know Junn's fate, and you know Raine's fate. Then you must know mine as well."

Skar had tried and strangely enough he had seen no clue as to Kast's future. "Oddly enough, yours is the only one I can't fully read."

"Fully?"

Skar nodded. "I see...faint visions, but not the whole picture. I should be able to see it, but its as though your destiny isn't written yet."

Kast smirked. "I think you're lying just to give me hope."

Skar laughed, surprising himself that he was able to at such a time. "Is it working?"

Kast shook his head. "Not in the slightest. But I appreciate you trying, actually. Whatever happens, I've got your back."

"Thanks," Skar said, "but there won't be anybody on my back."

* * *

Eknath's shuttle came in on a slow descent, the peaceful arrival of a bird letting the wind push it forward, before dropping down on its legs on the landing pad, groaning as it settled in. Exhaust fired from its gears and the boarding ramp unlocked, opening wide like a bird's beak. The setting sun in the far horizon threw a golden sheen across the hull of the shuttle.

Trying hard not to let his anxiety show, Koll walked to meet Eknath with Sasa at his side, struggling in the common ground between fear and relief, not entirely sure what to expect from the old prophet. He desperately wanted a full report on what had occured on Regana since he'd left them on their own, to hear how so many of their inner circle had died. And even as he walked across the pad, he found even more questions popping up, questions to which he was afraid he wouldn't like the answers.

Eknath strolled down the boarding ramp alone, his hood up and his gray cloak waving softly as he walked to meet them.

"Welcome home, Master Eknath," Koll forced himself to smile. "I gather by the apparent evidence in space that you have succesfully completed our objectives."

Eknath glanced back and forth between them, his red eyes burning in their sockets. "With some margin of failure; yes."

Sasa's voice held some frailty. "What happened to the others, Eknath?"

Those red eyes seemed ready, poised for something. "Let's not waste time discussing the past when we are so close to the future, my old friends. All but the traitor Raine, our accomplices were killed by the Republic forces," he spoke very dismissively, "Raine escaped me, but I am confident he died in the destruction of Hope's Haven."

Sasa's jaw tightened. "Krych...tell me about him."

Eknath almost snarled, an undercurrent of anger. "He was killed...he lead the charge against the survivors of the Republic army after we rained the scrapyard down upon them. I don't know how it exactly happened, but I know him to be dead."

Sasa looked doubtful. "How can you be sure?"

Eknath's lips slowly formed a smile. "Oh, I am very sure."

Koll couldn't help taking a step forward, putting himself slightly between Sasa and Eknath, sensing a tension between them. "I am _sure_," Koll managed a pleasant but stern voice, "my wife dearly wants to know how her beloved apprentice has perished."

His scarred face grew more fierce with each second. "It is as I explained in my transmission. The Kjoil apprentice turned up along with the Republic forces. He killed Tragedy, Gravity, Eulogy and Loyalty. I sacrificed the _Infinity_, to create a convincing return to Coruscant." He raised a questioning eyebrow. "That is still our objective, is it not?"

Sasa nodded confidently. "Of course it is."

Eknath's eyebrow remained lifted and he turned his gaze to Koll. "I don't hear our glorious General saying anything."

Sasa looked over at her husband. "Koll?"

Koll felt a shiver of excitement filling him, the feeling of standing on a needle-point, a place in time when everything would change around him. And he wasn't surprised that Eknath already had some idea of where things were about to move.

"You knew, didn't you, Master Eknath? Being the Prophet in our group."

Eknath nodded. "I had my suspicions."

Sasa looked back and forth between them, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Koll delivered a sinister grin. "The entire mission, all of our objectives...it ends right here."

Sasa felt hollow inside. "What?"

Koll started to wander the landing pad, talking to no one in particular. "Witarms helped me realize something. I _am not _going to destroy Coruscant, I am not going to start a war against the Republic. It took me a long time to see the flaw in my plans, but I can't look away from them now. We've gone through a lot of effort and work to make it, and in the end our efforts will not be in vain. But now a new mission takes shape, the _real _mission."

Sasa could sense something much worse about to be revealed to her, and her mind raced to reevalute clues and signs she'd seen. "What mission?"

Koll smiled, filled with the joy of fulfillment, tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes. "_Saving _the New Republic. It is my final gift...alerting the Republic to a threat they would not know for many years, a threat they wouldn't be ready for. I will give the fleet and our army to them, letting them dispose of them as they wish, along with a warning about the coming invasion from beyond the Galaxy. I have to let them know, I have to make them _see _it. Our soldiers will help them fight back the alien invasion, they will ensure the Galaxy's survival."

"But..." Sasa was at a loss for words. She looked to the heavens, feeling the minds of thousands of soldiers onboard the ships in orbit. "What about the Sons of Destiny? Our _Dream_?"

Koll shook his head. "They have completed their circle. Their initial intention was to create a better world, and we will. The Republic _will _be ready. Infact; its only now that we truly are sons of destiny. In time, the soldiers will understand this. The Dream was fulfilled. Our role in history as the saviors of this Galaxy solidified, maybe not now, but when the real war begins, we will be remembered. Our place in time has come and gone. I realized after Skind's clone died, that we'd estalished the equilibrium in the Force, making the Jedi stronger. This world no longer needs us."

Eknath chuckled. "Amazing you've come this far and still know so little."

Koll looked at Eknath, puzzled.

Eknath held his hand out towards Sasa. "Maybe you should have a talk with your wife. Sasa knew. I read it off her mind the moment I set foot on Regana. The part of her that had doubts. After that it was almost too easy...and quite amusing to observe."

Koll's face paled, and his excitement faded as though it never were.

"Sasa was the only one I didn't have to hide it from, she did her best to hide it from herself. I knew she had her motives and she knew I had mine. Neither of us wanted to be revealed, so we stayed silent. For mutual gain. In the end we wanted the same thing. A war. She stayed silent because she feared if you knew your son was still alive, your resolve might waver, just as it does now. She knew this war was needed, as much as I do." Eknath's voice turned playful, clear evidence that he was enjoying himself more than ever. "_I _caused the initial death of your son. I coaxed him and catered to the part of him that wanted to commit suicide. The part of him that wanted to be free of his nightmare. Just as Skind did to the first clone, the one called Kayupa."

Koll stood there, trembling, a horrible feeling rising up in him. "No..."

"Yes," Eknath said clearly. "_That_...was your son."

Koll looked to his wife, unable to fathom what he had been told. "Tell me, Sasa. Tell me he is a liar."

Eknath grinned loudly. "Ironic, isn't it? If she does...she is the liar."

Koll started shaking his head, tears forming at his eyes. "No...no, that's not true. I would have felt it!"

Eknath scoffed. "Would you really? All your life you've starved for two things; a son and revenge. You were given a chance to choose, you could have gone either way, you could have lied to yourself, but you chose revenge."

"Silence!" Koll roared at him, his eyes never leaving his wife.

Her lips moved but no words came out. She looked back and forth franticly, unable to find comfort or support in anything. "Koll, if I'd told you, what would have happened? Would you have stopped the war? Would you forgive the Republic for the things you thought they did? Would it have stopped you?"

Koll's hands started to coil. "You don't expect me to answer that."

Sasa shook her head. "You would never have risked it, given the chance for a family again. So...I chose for you. I was convinced, Koll. The world needs a war, a clean slate, a fresh start. I couldn't risk you throwing that away for your own benifit."

"My own benifit?" he asked. "You're talking about _our son_, Sasa! The child you carried in your womb, the son you had so many dreams and visions for. Our dream! Everything we ever wanted!"

Sasa started to cry. "You and I fell apart too long ago, Koll. I still love you for all you're capable of, all your strengths, but understanding family was never one of them. You're in love with a dream, Koll...I'm in bed with reality. For the future of this Galaxy, I buried my feelings for our son."

Koll's face tightened, the areas around his eyes shrinking. His head started to nod slowly, repeatedly, and he finally cried. "I was looking for a traitor. Turns out she was right in my bed."

Sasa stepped toward her husband -

But Koll struck her hard aside with an armored fist, flinging her across the landing pad, sliding to a halt near the edge.

"Stay away from me!" Koll yelled with all of the hate his voice could deliver, the sound echoing against the mountain behind them, the Dark Side swirling all around him. Koll put his back to Eknath, staring at Sasa with all the hatred in him. "I will deal with you in a minute, Eknath. I must..._tend_ to my wife first."

Surprisingly Eknath remained where he stood, his sick laughter reaching thunderous proportions.

Koll turned back around, sensing something was happening. He could feel enourmous amounts of attention drawn to him. "What's happening?" He looked around himself, feeling walls start to close around him. "What have you done?"

Eknath revealed a hidden comlink on his belt. "This little incident has been transmitted to every ship in the army, every soldier once devoted to you has suddenly had a change of heart."

Koll knew it wasn't a lie. Already he could feel massive amounts of anger and hatred aimed at him.

Eknath couldn't contain his smirk. "A slight change in motivation...your assault on Sasa has left repercussions. You may have been the fist and the sword of this army, Riokon, but Sasa was the heart. Many of these soldiers viewed her as their mother. It was in her eyes they found the love that was their reward. You can imagine how they must be feeling by now. Your power-base has just crumpled. You're all alone now."

Koll stood between his fallen wife and the man who had destroyed everything he knew. "What is it you intend to do, Eknath? Where is all this heading?"

"Yavin 4."

Both of them turned to see Jedi Master Raine appear from the landing pad's entrance, walking determined towards them, the blazing sunset exploding behind him. "That's your real target now, isn't it, Eknath? You're going to destroy Skywalker's Jedi Academy. You know they are a greater threat to you than any Republic army. And then you will lead the Kjoil to victory, using Rishi as your tool."

Koll's joy at seeing Master Raine never had a chance to manifest. "You aligned with the Kjoil apprentice?"

Raine stopped walking, leaving Koll at equal lengths to them both. "That was his plan all along. He was the one who misguided the Bothan informer on Coruscant, feeding the apprentice lies that would make him come to Regana, as well as ensuring his Master's death. He planned to set your son free, so you could have your revenge and continue on course. But he didn't know that your son would take Sonnet's power onto himself, becoming more powerful that you could handle. Eknath engineered everything. To get him the location of the Kjoil, to have the Galaxy vulnurable to an attack, and to lead the Kjoil to victory. And now he's here to pick up his army, as well as the clone body you took from Regana."

Koll's head lowered, feeling all of the puzzles fall into place. And what a fool he had been. "Of course...you're the Sith Lord."

Eknath chuckled confidently, his scarred face becoming truely hidious. "Only partially, I'm afraid. There's never been an actual Sith Lord, but I've managed to manipulate your mind into thinking there was. Right from the very moment I first joined your group. When I supposedly hired you as Eclipos, I only did it to give you the push that would set my plan in motion. I was growing tired of hearing you talk about all the great things you had yet to acheive."

Koll's eyes squinted, his frame vulnurable. "But you were never at Elemos."

"I was, once. Long enough to plant information in Witarm's mind that would give you a convincing story should you ever return to that place. You trust that old fool, I was just making sure he removed any notion of suspicion aimed at me."

Koll kept his eyes downward. "And you made sure Regana was the site of first attack because of the cloning facility...you wanted a new vessel, a new clone."

Eknath nodded. "Precisely. All this time you've valued me for my abilities to manipulate minds, so much you couldn't see you were under its very influence all along."

Koll's arms shivered with anger. His hands opened and two lightsabers dropped into his palms from his gauntlets. "Well, not anymore."

Eknath still chuckled. "See, this is where it gets interesting, Koll. This is where the true error of your entire plan is revealed."

Koll started walking fast towards him, the man responsible for all of his anger, all of his pain. "Talk fast, Eknath. You don't have much time left."

Behind Koll, Raine's old face came up, a tightness to his features. Raine changed his position, moving slowly, almost hesitantly, into a defense stance. "Koll," he said in an unsure voice, "I feel it again...the Force is moving."

Koll stopped walking, and moved his head only to glance at the Jedi Master, a confusion on his face that slowly changed into comprihention. "No...you can't be serious."

Raine pulled the cloak from his shoulders, letting the robe be taken by the wind, snapping onto itself as it went. "It is time."

Koll turned fully to face Raine and whipped out a hand towards Eknath. "Because of him!"

"Maybe," Raine said confused, his eyes wandering. "I'm not sure. Or maybe it is you," his right hand quietly removed the lightsaber from his belt. "Yes. It is you. I...can't let you kill him."

Again Eknath laughed supremely. "You see? Destiny _wants _me to succeed. The Force is on my side, Riokon. You can't destroy me! _This has to happen!_"

Koll's face crunched up and both lightsabers ignited with red blades from the handles. "Very well. Let's bury the last sad remnants of this charade."

Eknath rubbed his hands together. "I'll leave you two to settle this. I have a Galaxy in much need of repair." He turned on his heels and marched back towards the shuttle. "Farewell, my old friends."

Raine's lightsaber ignited slowly, the red blade extending to full length, a beaten fragile look on his face. "You should know...I hoped this would never happen."

Koll nodded, respecting the man's words. "I'm glad to hear that," he said, his voice annoyed but also vulnurable. He let out the air in his lungs, tilting his head back. "I bear you no hatred, Raine. But its two sides of the same coin. You have one vision, I have another. A collision course...destined."

Raine lowered his head and closed his eyes, a surrender in his voice. "Remember me."

Koll's head came back up, his lips slowly forming a warm smile. "I will."

Raine charged forth, as fast as his old body would allow, tears bouncing off his face as he closed on Koll. Koll stood like a statue, the misting of his eyes the only motion he allowed himself. Raine was a friend, perhaps his only friend, and it saddened him that their convictions should clash like this. But he expected no less from Raine than he expected of himself; loyalty, above all else, to his beliefs. It took the edge of the pain off it, that at least Raine had honor, unlike the others.

Raine came in, his lightsaber falling from above. Koll raised his right blade to intercept while his left blade moved to stab Raine beneath. But Raine twirled sideways on his heels, the left blade stabbing only air. Raine moved quickly and wrested the right blade from Koll's hand by twisting his own lightsaber while they were connected. Koll rolled away, coming up on one knee, firming both hands on his single lightsaber.

Koll chuckled. "You learned that from me."

Raine nodded, his cheeks moist with tears. "A gift among friends."

Koll looked to his other lightsaber, lying behind Raine's feet. He could easily call it to his hands without Raine being able to stop it, but he decided not to. Instead he rose from the floor and set himself for another attack. Raine dashed forth, sliding purposely on the slippery floor as he approached. His speed and swift strike sent Koll back a step, but he quickly recovered, landing a series of quick slashes across Raine's blade.

It was a brief half-hearted battle, neither truely desired the victory over the other. The Force swirled around them both, pouring energy into their bodies, giving each the strength to claim victory. Like two charged cells, they sparred and spun around one another, just as they many times before had done in training or mock battle. But this was no contest, it wasn't even a battle. Fate had already decided who would become the victor and time, as it was, was already wasted.

They ended with crossed blades, staring at each other between the blades. Leaning against each other, they stood there for what seemed like forever, their eyes speaking in volumes to each other. Raine's knees started to buckle, and his face finally closed up in sadness.

Sobbing, he bowed his head down and made a quick resolute nod.

Koll slowly removed Raine's lightsaber from the old man's hands, his wrinkly fingers giving it up without resistance. Koll stepped back, watched his old friend break down in tears before him. The sight brought sorrow to his own heart and, refusing to let the image stain his memory of the man, he slashed across his own chest with the blue lightsaber, plucking Raine's head from his shoulders in one swift strike, the very same instant the last inkling warm light of sunset fully died around them.

Koll's jaw trembled as the old man faded into air before him, the Jedi uniform pulled away by the wind. Koll watched it fly away for as long as he could, and when it completely vanished he felt his own heart stop. He heard the shuttle power up behind him, but couldn't find the strength to face it or even look at it. Maybe Eknath was right, maybe he was the fool. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered.

Everything was gone.

_Poor Raine...he was only meant to delay me, so Eknath could escape. It's all true, everything Eknath said. _

Loneliness overpowered him, a sudden shattering of all that he'd once known and loved. Both lightsabers died in his hands, and Koll stood there, staring at the night above him, having never felt so alone, listening to the shuttle's engines as it flew away, the sound softly fading away.

Sasa started to move nearby. Koll clipped both lightsabers to his belt and turned towards his wife. Before Sasa was completely conscious, Koll wiped away the last of his tears, cleared out his throat and took a deep breath.

"Now that we're finally alone, I think we can have some quality time together."

She awoke and sat up, rubbing her face where he'd struck her, flinching in pain as she touched the sore section. Her face slowly moved back and her eyes looked up at him.

And where he once had seen love, he now only saw fear.

She could see it, she could see his change.

She could see he was already dead.

"Koll..." she pleaded.

The first hit slammed dead-on into Sasa's face, instantly flooring her. But Koll picked her back up by the collar and dropped another highly raised fist down into Sasa's already battered face.

Sasa felt like she was drowning, choking on shattered teeth and gushing blood, fighting to spit as much of it as she could out. The pain was immense, her head felt like a starship had flown straight through it. Everything was a swirling mess of pain, confusion and fear. She tried to remember even a small memory of Koll that brought her joy even as he was beating her, but all of it felt distant, like a rug had been pulled over it. All she knew for certain was the shattering pain that accompanied every punch and every kick.

After what felt like forever, Koll pulled her face back by her hair, forcing her to look at him, though Sasa could barely make out her husband's face anymore. She could hear sobbing, as Koll held up his own mangled and bloodied fist before her eyes, too filled with dark hatred and anger to care about primitive pain.

"Was there anything more you want to say to me...my darling wife?"

* * *

The _Koniduz _swept over the treetops of Anodyn's greatest forest, barely missing the tallest of trees. This close to ground the enemy's scanners and radars wouldn't detect their presence, even if they already knew they were inside the atmosphere. 2L piloted the ship, keeping her engines at full speed, imbound for the bastion just at the edge of the forest.

Skar, Junn and Kast had assembled at the ship's ramp, all dressed up for a battle and going over the last few mission details. Skar was nothing more than a shadow inside his cloak, two determined eyes that saw clearly through every veil of fear or doubt. Junn's Mandalorian armor managed to still look menacing despite small damage here and there, while Kast looked very comfortable with himself wearing experimental battle-armor, Tracker hovering diligintly over his shoulder.

Skar finished his last instructions and activated the ramp, opening up the rear of the cargo hold and allowing them all a view of treetops and a land of green that moved away from them at high speed. His cloak flapped as wind wrapped around him, and yet he stood like a block of heavy stone at the edge of the ramp, staring down into the forest beneath him.

With the blink of an eye his perceptions changed and he saw, what he already knew to be true, through the Force.

"Raine is gone."

Junn stepped up beside him, her helmet lowering slightly. "How?" her mechanically filtered voice asked.

Skar didn't know what to say. Was it an honorable death? Was it justifiable? Such things had no answer, but there was still truth in the oblivion. "He died the way he wanted to. Following the will of the Force."

The helmet raised again. "Then he died a good death."

Skar turned to her. "Eknath is taking off. He's going to link up with the fleet."

She nodded and the helmet looked at him. "He's not home free yet."'

"You know," Skar said matter-of-factly, "you cannot defeat him."

She nodded. "I know. But I'll have the help of friends."

Skar didn't know what she meant by that, and time was short. "Make sure Rishi stays alive."

She put two fingers to her temple and signed off Skar and Kast. "Good luck at the bastion," she said and hesitated, as though she wanted to say more.

Skar knew there was nothing more to say. They would never see her again, and the world would never know what she was about to sacrifice. The Galaxy would never hear of a Lady Junn who faced a Dark Side tyrant on her own, fighting with every breath in her warrior's soul so they could be free. He imagined there were few people in the world who could carry such a burden without breaking, but that was what soldiers were for, carrying the fate of many on their shoulders.

She stepped toward the ramp, putting a foot on the edge, about to leap off -

Skar grapped her arm, stopping her.

She didn't look at him.

"Tell him," Skar thought of Skind Kjoil, the restless spirit somewhere beyond this world, about the promise he had once sworn to do, "I will keep my promise."

She still didn't look at him, but the helmet nodded.

And then she was off, leaping into free air, her jetpack instantly firing up and she rocketed away, leaving only a trail of exhaust in the air above the forest.

Kast walked up beside Skar, looking at the fading spot that was Junn in the distance. "In another life, another time, I could have fallen for her."

Skar contained the urge to laugh. "You know, we wouldn't be here if someone hadn't once fallen for her."

"Huh?"

Skar shook his head. "Nevermind. Ancient history," he said. _Ancient history long overdue for a final chapter._

The cargo hold's internal comm system activated and 2L's worrying droid voice spoke through. "Master Skar, I do believe we are approaching our destination. The enemy stronghold is only a few miles away."

Skar nodded and moved his head from side to side, cracking his neck.

"About time."

* * *

With his new clone body safely in storage in the back, Eknath felt very snug inside the shuttle's co-pilot seat, having finally severed all the ties to Koll and his useless plans. Everything had proceeded almost entirely to plan, all that remained was to ensure the loyalty of the fleet, a feat he was sure would demand some work, but nothing that the Dark Side of the Force couldn't help him acheive.

Koll would surely murder Sasa, now that the same Dark Side had finally stolen away the last of his resolve, and he fully expected the former General to end his own life in grief soon after. But nothing held the pleasure as knowing that old man Raine was finally dead, his eternal blindness now a full darkness. That fool had been hovering over his shoulder all along, a thorn in his side now finally removed.

Rishi piloted the shuttle, his pale skin and yellowish eyes a startling change from the youthful healthy boy he'd once been. His muscles trembled with subtle pain, a constant unrest ruining his stability. Eknath wasn't worried. It was in that lack of stability that Rishi would finally lose himself completely and become a puppet just like Joon.

Soon he would transfer himself to his new clone vessel. And in time, when the Kjoil refugees were completely under his control, Eknath would even take Rishi's body for his own, giving Kjoil powers that would ensure his everlasting control of this world. Nothing and now no one could prevent him now. The Republic might've been on to their exploits on Regana by now, and might even have heard of a planet called Anodyn, but they would be too late.

While they were gathering clues at Regana, Eknath would already be on his way to Yavin Four, taking him with a vast fleet that would vaporize the planet from space, ending the Jedi plague before it could grow into an unstoppable virus.

He chuckled to himself. "Magnificent times ahead of us, my apprentice. Everything is happening exactly as I planned."

Rishi showed no sign of interest, his dying eyes were dimly unfocused on the clouds slowly moving by outside the viewscreen. "You should have killed Riokon."

"Riokon will destroy himself. The man has lost everything, so much so that even the thought of revenge will tire him. I know him well enough to see it. This defeat will be the final undoing of that aged warrior." He closed his eyes. "Yes...even now I feel it. He's lost, killing his wife as we speak."

Rishi's hands moved the controls. "And Raine?"

Eknath smiled. "Raine is dead, but you were right to leave him alive on Regana. It seems fate for some reason chose him to be my shield against Riokon's rage. So you see...fate designed him to save my life, ensuring the future that I have forseen."

"Future?" Rishi said. "But there is no future."

Eknath wasn't sure what the boy meant by those words. It remained true that the Force still showed no clear cut path of how things were going to end, but all proof showed that things were moving in his favor. Why else would someone like Raine feel the need to defend a man who was clearly his enemy? "Everything will become more clear in time, once the final building blocks are in their right place."

Rishi's eyes stared blankly into the air in front of him. "What about the others?"

"What others?"

Rishi looked over at his Master, and for once there was a devastatingly clear intelligence in them. "Raine didn't get here on his own."

Eknath's world took on a shade of black, an instant fury with himself. How could he have overlooked that fact?

And in that moment one of the screens lit up with a hand-sized holographic image of Jovis, looking very flustered. The image suffered some distortion due to a weak signal. "...are you recieving me?"

Eknath leaned forward in his seat and read the transmission's origin off the screen. "Commander Jovis, why are you not onboard the _Watchmen_?"

"It's Junn! She's here! My men turned on me and landed the shuttle inside the bastion, they think she's still in charge! They're keeping me until she arrives!"

Eknath's thin hands tightened around the armrests of his seat. Of course, that was how. "And the Jedi prisoner? Is he still with you?"

Jovis nodded. "Kal Ulani is still in my custody."

Eknath's face soured. "Kill him immediately."

Rishi stirred next to him. "What?"

Eknath's scarred face turned more grim by the second. "I will take no more chances. He's a threat and one of them. If Junn travels with anyone else, they will surely come for him." Eknath looked to Jovis again. "You have your orders, commander."

"Yes," Jovis nodded franticly. "And...then?"

Eknath couldn't help feel disgusted by what Jovis was obviously asking of him. "You will have to ensure your own survival, Jovis. Make Jango proud."

Those words seemed of little comfort to Jovis. "But...I - "

Eknath flicked off the hologram. "Useless mercenary. I had higher hopes for that one." He settled back into his seat, his red eyes burning with fury. How did Junn make it out of Regana? The place was destroyed, there were no other ships.

Rishi stared distractedly at the view outside, his eyes focusing. "Fett?"

Eknath looked over at his apprentice, starting to worry about Rishi's sanity. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it too. a black spot on the pure white sky outside. A form starting to approach them ever faster.

And with unflinching clarity Eknath knew it was her.

A second form broke off from the first one, this one moving much faster, leaving a trail of smoke and fire behind it.

It was only in the second after her jetpack's missile had blown through the shuttle's viewscreen and detonated in the back of the shuttle, dooming it to an uncontrollable descent, that Eknath realized the destruction of Yavin Four was still very, very far away.

* * *

The architecture of the Sons of Destiny bastion was unimpressive, a few large buildings existed on the surface of the planet while the large hangar spaces were underground, accessible by gigantic doorways that led down into the starship silos. At the moment a flood of shuttles and cargo ships were swarming out of the ground, falling into perfect columns that sailed for the stars above. The mood inside the bastion was an elated one, years of planning and training had finally paid off and the proud soldiers of the army were on their way to their target.

Only a few hundred men would remain behind to keep the bastion running, thinking they'd been given the safer end of the deal.

The _Koniduz _came swooping in as a crimson bird of prey, opening up her guns and dropping bombs at the few surface installations that existed. The ground to air weapons that were meant to protect the facility never stood any chances as the _Koniduz _leveled them with everything the old bird carried onboard.

To outsiders whoever was piloting the Koniduz had to be a seasoned fighter-pilot or at the very least a man that had been through years of performing strafing runs on heavy military installations. Never in a million years would anyone have guessed that the pilot was in fact a protocol droid, a protocol droid very confused about the strange exciting sensations it sent through its concious mind to be finally be the one flying the ship.

On the second run over the structures two men jumped off the ramp of the personnel carrier, one man strapped to the back of a disc-shaped droid and holding on for his dear life. The other man wore a black cloak that folded out like the giant wings of a hawkbat, showing his descent and gliding through the air, aiming for the column of enemy shuttles, of which neither broke off to stop the insane assualt on their home base, but merely increased their ascention.

The second man managed to land on the back of one such shuttle, lighting up a blue lightsaber and slashing through the engine compartment, before jumping onwards, and downwards, to the next shuttle.

The first shuttle exploded in the air above him, debris falling down after him, but he moved too quickly, jumping from shuttle to shuttle, killing them with one clean swipe of his blade, delivering devastation blows to crucial fuel containers. A vast portion of the shuttles were destroyed by the flaming wreckage of the ships ahead of them in the column, unable to pull away fast enough, a curtain of fire and burning metal enveloped them.

Kast dropped off Tracker's back when they were close enough to ground, rolled across the grass and came up in his ready-position. But there were no targets available.

The _Koniduz _made one final sweep, dropping the last few bombs at random, creating a hellish wall of flames straight through the bastion grounds, adding to the already out of control destruction. In the air above the columns of shuttles was fast becoming a column of explosions and fire.

Kast stood down and withstood the trembling ground and the wall of sound the sight sent his way, only a bit annoyed that there was nothing to shoot at.

Tracker hovered over his shoulder, emitting questioning electronic noises.

"Yeah," Kast answered, "sometimes planning is overrated."

Skar dropped out of the sky nearby, his cloak sprayed out like wings that enfolded him the moment he, very softly, touched down on the ground, that ever blank expression on his face. "You alright?"

Kast was instantly self-concious. "Ye...yeah. Yeah, I took down a few."

Tracker rectified him.

"Shut up."

Skar moved out his arm to the nearest open surface gate to the underground levels. "There's still more to come."

"Right," he was afraid to ask, "any plan?"

"Actually, yes," Skar started walking into the battle-zone. "You go find Kal, but careful; Jovis is undoubtedly nearby and he won't let go of his prisoner so easily. Take the less obvious approach and go in quietly."

Kast followed him. "Right. And you?"

"I'll create a distraction."

Kast looked at the mayhem around him. "A distraction? You don't think this is sufficient?"

Skar grinned. "For them, maybe. For me; I still feel a little rusty."

* * *

The shuttle Rishi and Eknath had flown in had gone down in the thickest of the forest, sliding half a mile before coming to a rest, cockpit smashed against the trunk of a giant tree. The forest surrounding it had caught fire, obscuring the area in thick black smoke and ravenous flames crawling up the bark of every tree it touched. The wings of the shuttle had been clipped during the crash and little remained except for the burning main hull.

Eknath staggered across the forest floor, using the Force to keep the smoke from reaching down into his lungs. Groaning with pain, Eknath managed to scramble onto the shuttle. He clawed at an access panel and succeeded in tearing it away so he could look inside. The interior was devastated, flying sparks from broken circuitry created more fires inside.

But there was no Rishi.

And the clone body was destroyed.

Panic gripped him, and he flung around to look at the forest around him. Junn was out there somewhere, he just knew it. Just like her to be lurking in the shadows. He wasn't in the mood to waste time fighting her, but if she had Rishi he had to.

He dropped down from the hull, chuckling, knowing she was out there. Watching him. He should have killed her when he had the chance. He'd made that mistake once and he wasn't about to make it again. He spread out his arms, letting his laughter drown out the crackle of the giant forest fire around him.

On call, Junn rocketed out of the fires on her jetpack among the treetops, blasting her way into the clearing, and settling into a hovering position above the forest floor. Her Mandalorian armor was black with soot and ash, but the fires cast a haunting reflection upon her visor. Her hands were empty, but her entire body was covered in weaponry, coiled for a fight.

"Tell me, _Prophet_;" her mechanical voice was artificially loud, "if you really can see the future, what do you see?"

His chuckling became a full-blown dark laughter. The idea that she really thought she could trap and destroy him was laughable. "I see a vengeful little girl," his fingers started to spark, thin traces of electricity dancing inside his palms, "about to die."

Junn lowered more, hovering a few feet above the ground, twenty feet away. "And beyond her death, what do you see?"

Eknath's grin dimmed slightly. What was she playing at? What did it matter to her what happened beyond her death? "What does it matter to you?"

The helmet tilted ever so slightly. "There's nothing there, is there?"

Eknath scanned the Force, seeing the future, seeing her die, and beyond it...

Nothing.

Dark grim black nothing.

A horrible feeling settled in him. "You won't kill me, you useless woman! No one as pathetic as you will be my end," he summoned all of the Dark Side into his body, feeling it's vivid dark energy empower his every nerve and every pore. "Selia Iver may live in your genes, but she was a poor excuse for a Sith."

Her feet finally touched the ground and the jet pack extinguished. Reaching up she pulled off her helmet, revealing her fierce snarl and sweat-soaked hair. She tossed the helmet aside and set herself for a fight, her body trembling with anger.

"I see," Eknath started to approach her, "you and Krych really were a perfect match. You're both too _stupid _to walk away from what is so obviously beyond you. I allowed Rishi to kill your fool of a lover, but I have no regrets about taking you down myself. I could have broken Krych's neck with the snap of a finger, but with you I think I'll take every other bone one at a time."

He held up his hand, conducting the Force into his fingers and reached out for her, centering on the bone in her left shin.

But he couldn't touch it.

There was nothing there. Only a blank empty void in the Force, as though she wasn't there.

Suddenly he was afraid.

She grinned. "_You _may see me," she said as she pulled out a small cylinder from inside her armor, a very young ysalamiri sleeping inside, "but the Force can't see me. You're on my terms now."

* * *

The underground levels of the bastion were alive with the sound of alarms blaring. Everywhere soldiers were dressing up in their armor, stocking up on weapons for a type of battle they had never anticipated.

One in their own home.

The upper battle had put every remaining soldier on full alert, all two hundred of them. They'd been given reports on the surface skirmish, about a lone gunship swooping in and bombarding the upper structures to rubble, about a maniac miracuosly jumping from shuttle to shuttle heading for the _Watchmen _in orbit. The reports made little sense and a rumor quickly spread that this had to be a drill initiated by the ones in charge.

Nevertheless everyone was at the top of their game and fully primed for combat, all ready to go, apart from one thing;

No one knew where the attacker was.

Kast had taken Skar's advice, or command really, to go in through the lesser obvious routes. He wasn't sure what he had meant at the time since these Sons of Destiny soldiers were so accomplished that he didn't believe there was a route they would discount. Tracker had gone ahead of him through a waste disposal chute and had secluded itself inside the core of the bastion, patching into security programs and guiding Kast from there.

Because of Tracker's expertise he was able to find a part of the underground structures that wasn't guarded too well, even though it would mean going the long way around to finding Kal. Using Tracker as his eyes Kast had to don patience in his mission, waiting for the droid to deactivate certain systems and misleading troopers moving on patrol through the areas he had to cross.

Tracker was also succesfull in patching into the cameras monitoring the area that Kal was being held in, and, some might venture, where Jovis also was being held. The mercenary had been left behind by his superior and the Sons of Destiny soldiers had locked him up after the conversation between him and Junn on their approach to the planet. It seemed the soldiers still counted Junn among their highest ranking figures, and their respect for her was endless. Having met the woman he felt he couldn't contradict them.

Although it felt alien to his skin, his new battle-suit performed exceptionally well. The onboard systems were lightyears ahead of what he had grown used to, and unlike the other garmant it actually felt like a second skin on him. But his mission was faring so well he was starting to doubt if it would actually see full use to him.

His helmet's internal comlink turned on. "Kast?"

It was Skar.

Kast hunched down in the shadows. "Go ahead."

"Junn contacted me. Eknath and Rishi are on the ground."

It took a few heartbeats before Kast could take his eyes off his surroundings and actually feel relief. "That's good news. Are they dead?"

"No. Rishi is safe. She's going after Eknath."

Kast admired her audacity. "She's a brave one."

"Have you found Kal yet?" Skar asked.

"No, but I have a fix on him and Jovis. Should be there before long." Kast checked his corners. "Tracker's holed up in the deeper levels. He's keeping an eye out for me."

"That's good news."

Kast saw that as an understatement. "How about things on your end?"

"Actually, that's why I called. I have to meet with Rishi."

"Meet with?"

Skar actually chuckled. "Encounter, then."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, that's the second reason I called; you've got half an hour to wrap things up here. Tracker is probably calling you at this very moment to inform you that someone has activated the bastion's self-destruct system."

Kast's every hair stood on end. "_Someone_?"

He managed to sound truly irritated. "Don't make me spell it out for you, Kast. The clock is already ticking. The good news is that the Sons of Destiny don't know about it."

Kast stood up and checked his corners again, feeling blood pump through his veins faster and faster. "Why did you do that?"

"I had to..."

Kast frowned. "Translation; it would take longer than half an hour to explain."

"Hey!" Skar said, instantly defensive. But his voice quickly softened again. "Yeah, you're probably right. I think it would."

Kast cursed. "What about that distraction you were talking about?"

Skar hesitated. "Well...the self-destruct system's got your attention, doesn't it?"

"I can't get to Kal and out again inside that deadline!" Kast shouted angrily. "There are too many sentries along the way!"

Skar sighed, heavy frustration being vented. "Fine! I'll lead them to me. You should have a clear path to Kal's cell that way. Once you get him, meet me at the lowest level."

Kast set about a quicker pace down the corridors. "How are you going to distract them? These are highly trained soldiers, and they're on full alert."

Skar thought about it, but not much. "There's always death, that's worked for me in the past."

* * *

In the air above the bastion, inside of the _Koniduz'_s cockpit, 2L was yelping with an uncontrollable glee as the ship laid waste to a massive battle station beneath, his circuits overrunning with strange sensations his electronic brain could not interpret. But it felt good, which in itself posed many gigantic questions to his logical mind, questions that transcended logic.

In the midst of his joy, his attention was suddenly drawn to an incoming transmission. From a signal he knew very well. His programming to obey certain individuals overpowered his newfound lust for carnage, and in that moment a new sensation appeared in his mind.

Dissapointment.

Sighing, he turned the ship around, away from the playing field and flew for the signal.

* * *

Without having to worry about running into soldiers, Kast made double time in getting to the detention area, anxiety building in him with each minute he got closer to his target. But he brushed it aside. If what Skar had told him was true, worrying would only get him killed and he wasn't entirely ready to go down that path just yet.

After a short while he reached his destination. The doors to the detention area slid open fast and loud, with a heavy boom as they dissapeared within the bulkhead. Kast cringed at the sound. The empty dentention area's large space only magnified the sound, the chamber's superb acoustics working against him. Kast ducked inside and hunched down next to the doorway, spying the room down his rifle's frame.

Tracker had already informed him that, besides Kal, there were no one else locked away in the cells, and also provided him with the number of the cell. Which wouldn't have made much difference since there was apparently only six cells in the area. Three cells on each side of the large chamber, a small walkway on which he was perched and a short stairway down to the cell level. The lights were still working, but the room suffered slight vibrations from disturbances elsewhere in the facility.

Whatever it was Skar was doing to distract the troopers was working flawlessly, but Kast still felt exposed being completely alone this deep inside enemy lines.

And knowing that right down there, second door on the left, Jovis was waiting for him.

Kast swallowed his anxiety and side-stepped down the stairway, his rifle never leaving that door on the left side of the wide space. He walked on the balls of his heels to soften the sound, even though he could clearly hear every sound he made because he was overly conscious of his own movements. His heart was pounding against his ribcage, and he started to feel sweat form inside of his gloves.

Jovis was not a soldier like the rest of them. During their time inside Hope's Haven his team had listened in on as much comlink communication as they could intercept, and one of the many interesting things that had caught their attention, a fact that now resonated fiercely inside Kast's mind, was the knowledge that Jovis was a Mandalorian. A race that was infamous for their abilities in warfare and battle. Warriors without equal. Jovis had spent his life as a mercenary, and coupled with the age difference that meant Jovis was years ahead of him in experience.

Kast's eyes couldn't help maticulously search the floor and ceiling for traps. Did Jovis know they were coming? Yes. Would he prepare for it? Most certainly. Walking into an enemy facility was one thing, but walking into one where you were already expected was completely different.

The entire room trembled and Kast bent down in his knees to absorb the shock, staying stagnant while the vibrations died out. He cursed wordlessly and continued onwards, closing that small gap between him and the cell door. He knew the door was locked down but Tracker had a way around that.

Kast positioned himself in front of the door, leaving a small space of three feet between him and that plain-looking block of metal.

"Tracker?" he whispered.

The droid responded instantly.

"Unlock the cell door."

A chirp and then sounds of electronics. Before him the door suddenly became a living thing that almost breathed. The door slid back before folding sideways into the wall. Kast stepped forward, rifle firm against his shoulder. Kal was lying on his back against the floor, unconscious, a few wounds to his face, but clearly still alive.

No Jovis.

Kast swirled around in an instant, putting his back to Kal and inspecting the detention area yet again. "Tracker, have you got a lock on Jovis?" he asked, hearing the panic in his own voice.

No answer.

"Tracker? Come in!"

Still no answer.

The fear slowly took over all of him, as though someone had opened a floodgate and all of his soldier experience was pouring out rapidly. He could hear his own breathing start to increase, a sharp pain in his chest, his eyes filled with water -

_No_, he thought, _not now. Stay calm. _

The middle door on the other side of the detention area opened with a loud clank and his rifle locked on to it in a heartbeat, his finger depressing the trigger before he could even think about it. And a second later he sorely wished he had thought about it. Even rookies knew not to fire a weapon before they were sure about what they were shooting at. It felt like he had a lifetime to regret his move, watching the bolt shoot through the chamber, into the cell, richochetting off the wall and coming straight back at him.

His own bolt dug into his chest armor, which absorbed most of the blow but not enough to keep him from falling down on his back. He could hear himself cry out in pain over the sound of his rifle sliding across the floor away from his hand. Spots of light started to dance before his eyes and he managed to shake them off before unconsciousness could claim him.

"To be honest with you," he could hear Jovis's hazy voice but couldn't pinpoint it, "I was just as nervous as you were when you walked inside. I guess this must be my lucky day."

Kast rolled over on his stormach and reached for the blaster pistol on his right hip but a boot caught his hand and pressed it down to the floor.

Jovis was right there, standing over him.

"The Republic's finest, ey?" Jovis mocked him, unholstering his own blaster and aiming it at Kast's face. "Junn brought you, didn't she? Where is she?"

Kast's mind worked at lightspeed to think of a clever tactic to get him out of this mess. "She's beating up that guy you sold your soul to, right now."

Jovis nodded, his mind wandering. "Those two will kill each other. And maybe it's for the best. The Sons of Destiny would never allow me to command them, with Junn overwriting my authority the way she did. They abide her in a way I've never seen soldiers do before, a way I could never match. Eknath left me here to die too." His words were calm and clear. "But it wasn't a total loss. I learned some good things from them too."

Kast groaned as the boot pressed down harder on his wrist. "I'm so happy for you," he spat, "but it seems to me you missed something."

Jovis's eyebrow raised and he bent down, putting his blaster against Kast's temple. "Oh, really? Do tell."

Kast knew it might be the dumbest tactic he'd ever tried but if he didn't try it would surely be his last. He slammed his head sideways, knocking his helmet into the barrel on Jovis's blaster. The barrel slid off the curve of the helmet, releasing one harmless bolt over his head. In the few seconds it gave him, Kast released his armor's wrist blade on his left hand and rolled against Jovis, onto his own back and dug the blade into Jovis's thigh.

The Mandalorian screamed in pain, blood seeping from the wound. The force of Kast's roll forced the boot off his right arm and Kast managed to get up, kicked the blaster from Jovis's hand and launched himself at the man.

They slammed against the wall, hands at each other's throats, pounding each other senseless. Jovis kneed Kast's stormach repeatedly but the armor absorbed the blows. The wind was still knocked out of him and he had to pull back, releasing the other wrist blade, ready to cut Jovis to pieces if he had to.

Jovis snarled in anger, the wound in his thigh giving him pain that he used to fuel his rage. His Sons of Destiny armor revealed a set of wrist blades as well, though these were about a handswidth longer than Kast's.

The Mandalorian grinned as he saw Kast acknowledge that fact. "I was considering just leaving you and the Jedi here, thinking there'd be no point in me killing an unconscious Jedi and a rookie Republic trooper. But now," Jovis ran his blades down against each other, sparks flying off them as he did, "now, I'm going to carve my name into both of you!"

Kast did the only thing he could do; lifted up his hands and charged towards Jovis. Their blades meshed in a series of stabbing movements, both of them locked in a furious combat. Jovis had the extra length of his weapons, but Kast had thicker armor and looser agility. Kast resorted to using his blades purely as a defense, while his legs and feet tried to put Jovis on the floor. He proved to be quite resourceful for a wounded man, but Kast believed his anger was mostly responsible for his success.

The Mandalorian was a wall of blades that stabbed through the air around Kast, every move sending more and more chills down Kast's frame. He knew his luck was drying up and that there was no way he could match Jovis's primal rage. He could either play out his luck and wait for the man to tire down, something he believed wouldn't happen within the near future, or he could try to outsmart -

Then it happened. In the mist of sparkling blades Jovis's right arm shot straight past Kast's face, carving a fissure straight down the left side. His skull exploded in pain and everything turned bright as the sun. Kast could feel himself stagger and stumble, but even he felt surprised when his eyes finally focused, finding himself lying on the floor again.

_That was it_, he thought,_ it's all over now._

_You blew it._

Jovis stood over him, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Just the first of many cuts. Here's another."

A second swipe of the blade opened up the cloth covering Kast's chest as well as the skin beneath, sending a bright red hot fire across. Kast screamed his agony out full-fledged, hearing his own voice bouncing off the walls of the empty chamber.

Jovis was chuckling. "Sorry to tell you this, but those aren't going to match up with my name. They were just a warm-up. Feel the burn?"

Kast was bunched up on the floor, writhing in pain.

"I'll take that as an affirmative."

Kast managed to gather air in his lungs again, though simple small movement such as breathing shot napalm through his chest. Kast cursed and spat blood on the floor. "The last...real Mandalorian...got his head chopped off by a Jedi, Jovis. It ended there, you just...got the news late."

Jovis's smile waned. "Resilient...to the last. But since you brought up the topic of chopping heads," he raised his right hand, the blade glistening from faint light inside the room, "allow me to finish - "

A dull soft sound filled the room and Jovis stopped talking. His eyes stared straight ahead for many seconds before they rolled to the back of his head. His knees buckled beneath him and he slumbed down, keeling over on top of Kast.

Kast hurried to throw him off, seeing a fresh hole in the back of his head oozing smoke, as the Mandalorian laid out flat next to him. Kal stood in the doorway of his cell, leaning against the bulkhead. Kast's blaster was in his hand, venting smoke as well.

Kast exhaled. "What took you so long?"

Kal was still weak from torture, but managed a shepish grin. "Mandalorians are legends. I thought I'd wait and hear if he said anything sensible," he shrugged, "in the end I found myself debating whether to shoot him or myself."

Kast remained on the floor, gathering the strength to stand up. "You made the right choice."

"Yeah...I guess," Kal sounded dissapointed. He pushed away from the door and walked over to inspect Jovis's corpse. "He must have been lying about being a Mandalorian, don't you think?"

Kast chuckled. "Maybe."

Kal nodded to himself. "A while before this, me and Rishi were hunted by Boba Fett back on Coruscant. I figure he owes me one now. If this guy had gone public and claimed himself to be a Mandalorian, Fett's reputation would be in trouble."

Kast sat up, jaw clenched in pain. "Laughing upsets my wound, Kal. Thank you for not trying to be funny."

Kal walked over and helped Kast get on his feet. "How'd you get here?"

Kast pondered how to explain. "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"No."

"Then you wouldn't believe me, anyway."

Kal supported Kast as they walked for the exit. "Aren't you supposed to be helping me walk? When did we trade places?"

Kast grimaced. "When I saved your life."

"Fair enough. How are we going to get out of here?"

"The lowest level," Kast groaned, "I've got a friend taking care of it."

Kal looked at him funny. "A friend?" Kal's eyes were distant for a second as he reached out to the Force, finding his answer. His face paled slightly.

"Oh," was all he could say.

* * *

Oblivious to the activation of the bastion's self-destruct system, soldiers still patrolled the corridors and hangars, looking for the intruders that had destroyed the upper structures. A handful of soldiers, five in all, were searching one of the lowest levels, a central vertical tunnel which was connected to all the hangars underground as well as the surface. Through this tunnel, ships could easily move from one hangar to another or reach the surface in a matter of seconds. It also filled in as a rapid cargo transport system, thanks to a highly powerful repulsorfield at the very bottom.

Using the repulsor, a cargo of several hundred tons could be _fired_, propelling it for the surface and even powerful enough to send cargo straight out into space, where the capital ships could pick it up with their tractor beams. The repulsorfield area was the size of a small arena, a perfectly round chamber with powerful cranes stationed around the firing ramp for lifting cargo onto the high powered catapult.

One soldier thought he heard sound from an airduct high up in the wall, almost at the ceiling. He raised his blaster to shine the flashlight accessory at it.

- but the bulb exploded the second the cone of light touched the open airduct.

"What is that?"

The soldier magically lifted off the floor and flew up towards the ceiling as if he was a surface-to-air missile. As he flailed by the airduct, a blue beam of light extended from inside of it that sheared the flying man in two. The broken body continued to fly through the room, before gravity overcame its initial shock and started to tug it back down.

The four soldiers on the floor stepped back in horror as their comrade smashed against the floor at their feet. Their fear conquered their survival instincts and they were too late to fire at the dark man following their dead comrade's descent, like a thick shadow stealing all light around them.

The lightsaber never really extended to full length, its trademark hum never truly settled. The blade seemed only to exist for the blink of an eye, long enough to cut off what body parts it was aiming for, and then retract.

Four down and one to go, that last soldier was backpedalling as fast as he could, the shadow following him slowly. The men still alive on the floor behind him were screaming through their helmets, hugging their wounded limbs to their body. The soldier's blaster spat bolts at the man but they merely bounced off the lazy movements of the lightsaber.

"Call for back-up," the dark man whispered.

The soldier opened up a link to the rest of the soldiers inside the facility. "This is Echo 44, I've found the intruder! I'm in hangar 12! Converge!"

The shadow man ran up to him like lightning, pulling him up by his collar and the soldier managed to ask one last question. "Why...why'd you let me make the call?"

The blue lightsaber lobbed the soldier's head off and dropped the body to the floor.

"So they'd come."

Skar walked for the center of the chamber where the back-up soldiers would soon be coming. His blacker than black cape shrouded him and his face had a calm uncommon for a man about to kill every living soul within the bastion. Above his head the mile-long tunnel went straight up through the bastion's higher levels and he could see sunlight gleaming down from overhead.

All he needed was Kal and Kast.

Soon enough the ten different corridors into the chamber opened and the walkways were quickly littered with the last of the hundred soldiers left inside the bastion, firing their weapons at the single enemy inside. And Skar stood standing on the center of the repulsorfield, a swirling mass of energy with a blue lightsaber shrouding him in light as he bounced thousands of blasterbolts away from him with effortless skill. None of the soldiers advanced on his position, they stayed at a distance, delivering heavy fire at him.

But as he stood there, fighting off a small army on his own, he understood the Force in a way no one had ever before. He understood that he was all in all invincible. He knew that the Force had brought him back to life to set things on the right path, he knew the Force was guiding him through obstacles he didn't even knew existed. He'd learned to trust the Force, of much annoyance to the others who couldn't understand his supposed carelessness about their methods.

To put it in simple terms; Skar Kjoil was still dead.

It was the Force itself standing on that repulsorfield.

Skar's mind was anywhere but on his lightsaber. It moved entirely on its own beyond his will and he could watch in amazement as the Force used him as a tool. It was then he knew he couldn't be killed until he'd done what he had to do. The Force would simply not allow it. And the things he had to do were not of a combative nature. It was a matter of being at the right place at the right time, it was a matter of saying the right things. The Force would protect him until he'd done so.

But there was a deadline.

His body moved to face one walkway in particular and the Force bounced incoming shots to kill the soldiers occupying that walkway. A second later Kal and Kast came through the doors on the other side, the road cleared for them.

"Do you mind hurrying it up!" Skar shouted from instead the whirlstorm.

Kast and Kal ran across the walkway with their heads down, firing a few random shots but only to keep others from targeting them. They reached the repulsorfield and climbed onto it, joining Skar at the center. Kal immediately dropped down on one knee, firing with a borrowed blaster from Kast.

Skar looked over at Kast, the soldier's face dripping with blood from a nasty cut down his left cheek. "What happened to you?"

"Jovis had trouble letting go."

Skar bounced away an entire array of blasterbolts. "You didn't believe in destiny, did you, Kast?"

The soldier looked very out of place being asked such a question shortly in the middle of a hot zone. "What? No...Not really."

Skar nodded. "In that case, you might wanna stay behind me."

Kal shouted over the hailstorm of bolts flying around them. "You got a plan for getting us out of here!"

Kast just shook his head. "Don't ask him that. Trust me, you should never ask him that," a signal came through in Kast's helmet, "Wait, I'm getting something...it's Tracker!" Kast was relieved, having thought the droid had been found and destroyed. "He's activating something...a repulsor - " Kast's eyes filled with dread as he took his first good look at where he was.

What he was standing on.

A loud humming blocked out the sound of blasterfire and floor beneath the three men started to slightly vibrate. But the vibration increased quickly, becoming a heavy pounding that knocked Kast and Kal onto their backs while Skar stood firm. The floor sank for an instant, locking into place and the entire field then lit up in bright light, obscuring the chamber around them.

Kast's eyes filled with fear. "Holy - "

"Hold on!" Skar shouted.

And then they were off, catapulted straight up through the dozens of levels inside of the bastion, flying through the main vertical tunnel. The sunlight above raced down to meet them, faster than any one of them would have liked. Kast and Kal screamed as they cleared the rim of the tunnel and flew up into open air, the ground below them falling out of view. Skar grabbed onto both of them with the Force, controlling their flight, easing their fear.

Far beneath them a massive explosion erupted like a volcano and great fireballs shot up through the clouds all around them. The bastion's self-destruct system created an omnipotent hand of flame that seemed to reach up and grab for them. The hand built and built, growing and growing, stretching out in a sea of napalm soon to wash over them.

Out of the clouds the _Koniduz _came straight at them, it's rear landing ramp open wide. The gunship adjusted for their angle and speed, flying up into their path, the three of them flying up through it's open doors. The ship leveled out quickly and secured the ramp behind them, just as the roaring fires enveloped the ship.

Kal and Kast got to their feet, ready to fight, though all color had faded from their faces. There was anger on both their faces.

"You think you might have told us what you were planning to do!" Kal shouted at Skar.

Skar's eyes slowly drained of his warrior's ferocity and settled upon Kal with a cold wonderment. "Because that would have made you feel different?"

Kast struggled to breathe proper. "I'm alright...seriously, I'm - " The commando promptly keeled over and vomited over the cargo hold's floor.

Footsteps stole the moment as someone came walking down the stairs from the cockpit, and soon enough a stern-faced Rishi Kjoil was standing in the doorway, his still yellow eyes staring straight across the hold, past Kast, past Kal and locked hard on Skar. And even though it was a new face, a face that should have made Rishi run for the nearest escape pod, there was a glimpse of recognition.

Skar put away his lightsaber and exhaled an anxiety that was just getting started. He couldn't avoid seeing the paleness in Rishi's skin and the sickingly wrong color of his eyes.

"Well," he said, biting his lower lip, "I see you're doing well."

To the shock of everyone Rishi actually laughed softly, although he didn't seem too sure what he was laughing at. Maybe he just knew he wanted to laugh to lighten the atmosphere between them, and release the tension in his chest. "Yeah, well..." Rishi shook his head, at a loss for words, "I signaled 2L and he came and got me."

Kal picked Kast up from the floor, helping the commando walk. "Come on, Kast. This could get ugly."

Kast fought poorly against the Jedi's hold. "No. Stop moving me around. Stop moving. Don't - don't touch me."

Rishi stood aside and allowed the queasy Kast and Kal into the cockpit, stepping into the cargo hold, the door closing behind him. "We're headed for the castle."

Skar dusted off his hands and robes, fidgeting, only anxious now standing face to face with Rishi. "Don't worry. I'll take things from there."

Rishi felt the floor dissapear beneath him. "What?"

Skar's eyes filled with icy determination. "I came back for a reason, Rishi."

"Came back?"

Skar nodded and looked around him for place to sit, choosing a nearby vacant bunk. He sat down on the edge and linked his hands together, as if in prayer, gazing at the floor beyond his fingers. A sigh escaped his lips.

Rishi was standing right there in front of him, completely lost in just watching his Master. It felt like a dream, it seemed like a dream, but he knew it wasn't. It really wasn't. He felt his legs fold and before he knew it, he was crouched on the floor next to Skar. "So you did die?"

"Sure did," he said, as if it was of no great matter, "but Junn brought me back. There's something left undone. And until it's done, I can't fully die, like Skind and Kayupa I would be trapped as a ghost. That's the..._curse _of being a Kjoil. We create powerful ties to those around us, and until they're full circle we can't have peace." His eyes closed. "I don't want that."

Rishi wasn't really listening, he was just staring at his Master, sitting right there in flesh and blood, and soaked up every second of it. "What was death like?"

Skar slowly made a satisfied smile. "Beautiful."

Rishi swallowed hard. "Is it...I heard so many things. Are they true?"

"Not anymore."

Rishi tried to stay calm. "Who are you really?"

"I'm your Master, Rishi. Same as I always was."

Rishi knew that couldn't be true, but there were a thousand other things he wanted to talk about. Things he'd longed to get off his chest, things he'd thought he'd lost the chance to say. "2L told me something back on Coruscant...he was talking about you and him before you came to Draori. He made me see things I'd forgotten, or things I just never saw. About me, about you," Rishi looked away from Skar, "about us."

Skar listened carefully, a light in his eyes.

"He told me why you chose me as your apprentice."

Skar nodded. "You were the only one there who seemed conscious of the Force. The only one with the talent. But it was really Latarlas who pointed you out. You owe all this to him." Skar actually laughed. "I bet right now he's pretty happy to be dead."

Rishi shook his head, unamused. "The point is...I'd forgotten who you were when you came to Draori. You were a..." Rishi searched for a proper word, a kinder word, but found none, "...a tormented man. A sad man. Shinran's death was still right on your heels. And yet, in what had to be a living hell for you, you chose to take an apprentice. You chose to live for something other than yourself. You found a future, and it helped you let go of the past. Of Shinran."

Skar sat like a statue, his eyes locked in the past. "Only for a time."

"And then I left you."

His Master twitched, as if the memory of Rishi's departure brought him a physical pain. "Yes..." he seemed to want to say more, but didn't know what it was. His mouth was open, and the tongue licked the back of his teeth. "Yes, you did."

Rishi looked up at his Master again. And the words he wanted to say for so long suddenly eluded him. He'd heard them over and over in his mind, but now they were gone. He'd rehearsed them to death, and now couldn't remember. He stared at his Master's vacant eyes until his own began to water, until his jaw trembled and his chest sank. "I'm...sorry, Master. I was...stupid," the tears flowed, "I thought you failed me, but I was the traitor. I tried to be like you, tried to find my own way. Everything I did, I did to impress you, to show you."

He stumbled upon more truth. "To outshine you. To be what you'd forgotten you wanted to be." The tears flooded now, and Rishi could only see his Master as a blur of different colors, like a picture held under water. "You tried to help me...but I wouldn't listen. I'd lost faith in you. I was too stupid to see it."

Skar looked the same, his gaze still directed towards the past. "Yes...you were."

Rishi started to fold into himself, his head starting to ache and his jaws wouldn't stop shaking. "Eknath used it against me, but he didn't have to do much. It was already there, all my stupidity, all my arrogance, my greed. But he promised me a way to see you again, he gave me hope. But still...a part of me turned to him, just to spit in your face. Because I knew it would have hurt you. I hoped it would."

Skar finally sobered up, took a deep breath and looked down on his former apprentice. "You should have listened to me," he said sternly.

"Why?" Rishi begged. "Why did you think you had to face it all on your own? You took so much on your shoulders, and all I wanted was to help you. You should have told me. You were like my father," Rishi cracked utterly, diving straight into his pain and found a well deeper than he could ever have imagined, "I loved you. Who said you had to face it alone? I was right there, I could have helped you. You should have talked to me..."

Skar sat forward, heartbroken. "I didn't want you to _understand_, because you can't understand. Even I didn't understand."

Rishi's mind was whirl of pain and anguish, but he found he did understand. "You were afraid of letting go of them, so instead you let go of me."

Skar sat there, shaking his head. "Rishi..."

"It's alright, Master...no, it's not alright, but I _do _understand. Better than you know. Why else would I be here?"

Skar took in a deep breath and talked low. "I promised myself I would never become Lwen...seems I failed that too. I don't have any answers for you, Rishi. I'm sorry." His voice was heavy with old memories. "All my life I tried to make a name for myself, tried to make something of my powers and my heritage. Tried to do something that people would remember me by. I learned too much about myself. Seems the only thing that kept me going was to have a name, to be someone. Now," he scoffed, "there is no name. There will be no name, no great statue to honor me by. I'm not going back to Coruscant, Rishi."

Rishi's pain folded into confusion. "What?"

Skar shook his head. "The Jedi will remember me as a strange shut-in,and the Republic never knew me in the first place. I'm best left forgotten. Luke will no doubt consider me a great loss, but in the wake of things to come he will lose my memory among the many others dying around him, his friends and family."

Rishi felt some bile form at the back of his throat. "And me?"

His stern voice made no doubt that he was giving an order. "You will keep me a secret. As far as anyone needs to know I died when they took me hostage on Regana."

"What?" Rishi didn't understand. "People need to know what's happening. The Jedi...you have seen things in the Force they don't know about - "

"Which they don't need to know. Things they must never know."

Rishi felt like breaking things. "What are you talking about! Why do things have to be this way!"

"Because I say so."

Rishi stood back up. "What are you hiding from me? Why can't anyone know? Why are you talking as if..." Rishi's mind suddenly cleared, "...you're already dead?"

Skar's eyes were as clear and hard as a sparkling diamond. "I'll explain it later. Right now, it's time for me to end this."

"For _us _to end this," Rishi corrected.

Skar made a frown and he looked upon Rishi with an accusating gaze. "_Us_? _This_? I see your latest Master didn't expedite your intelligence more than I could." Skar lowered his face down, to put it right up into Rishi's. "You are _this_, Rishi."

* * *

Junn and Eknath collided like two asteroids in space, two massive planetoids exploding against each other in pure anger and hate. Junn used all of her weapons to their fullest extent, caring nothing for her own life as she threw herself at Eknath with wrist-blades stabbing and cutting the air between them. Eknath tore at her with his thin claw-like fingers, ripping and tearing at her face and armor, fueled with the desire to see blood drawn from her blood vessels, sickingly occupied with the idea of hearing her scream in pain.

The Dark Side enveloped Eknath and poured true malice to every one of his pores, throwing all of its powers into his hands, sending bolts of lightning from his fingertips. His haunting chuckle filled the forest with a presence of it's own, the fires spreading through the trees around them at an ever-increasing speed.

Junn dodged his bolts with rolls and the jetpack, keeping herself outside of his reach, always moving, a predator in her own right. She flew from tree to tree, using them as barriers to stop Eknath's lightning until she could get close enough to fight him. The jetpack's missiles were of little use, and already depleted, easily deflected by Eknath's Force lightning.

Eknath reached out with the Dark Side and pulled a large branch from a nearby tree. Pulling back and then forth, he threw the heavy trunk at her, catching her in the side and swatting her from the air like a bothersome fly. Junn trashed onto the ground, rolling a few feet before her arms sprayed out and steadied her. But she only had a second of breath before she had to roll forward again, as the tree-trunk came down behind her like a guiliotine. The smash threw up dust and ash from the forest floor around her, and before she could even pinpoint Eknath's position she had her flamethrower ready.

Eknath was gone.

Panting, she searched every tree top, every brush, every dark shadow.

Then he chuckled again, a loud and mocking creature that seemed to be everywhere at once.

"Poor little girl. In over your head?"

Junn felt the pain in her side stab through her like a spear. She could feel several broken ribs, and tasted blood in the back of her mouth. "You're the one hiding," she replied, spitting a gob of blood onto the ground, "not so tough without Joon or Rishi, are you?"

"They are just vessels, my dear. They are my armor, my weapons. I have mine, just like you have yours."

Junn scoffed. "Mine aren't tricked into defending me."

"Weaponry is a lot like nature;" Eknath mused, "it continues to evolve, to grow, adapting to the times and changes. Weapons...are a living thing. Many things in this world are expanding and evolving through scientific progress. We may think that our victories are ours alone, but the experiments we create, the things we build, they grow as much as we do. While we end in the dust, our creations live on, continuing to grow in the hands of others."

Junn set herself, preparing to pop her broken ribs back into place. "You're full of dung."

"And you, yourself, are a weapon, Junn. Or should I call you Selia? Do you know? Have you decided yet? At least she was a warrior, albeit a poor one. But you, you're nothing but a soldier, another one destined to give her life."

Junn popped one rib back into place, biting down on the pain, but not enough to keep tears from flowing. "There's no shame in that."

"Ahh, but you seem to forget. A soldier is a part of a unit. You abandoned your unit back on Regana. You chose exile and left them to fend for their own. So many dead, dead because they believed in you, dead because your training failed them." His laughter became a whisper. "Not very nice of you, now is it?"

Junn popped a second rib, releasing a slight cry. "They died like men!"

"Strange term, isn't it. To die like a man. Can you _die like a man_, little girl? Or will there be a moment of regret, a moment of fear? Would you scream? Would you beg?" His cackle filled the air around her. "Would you please just _die_?"

Third rib in place, Junn used the pain as fuel for her rage, standing up and holding out her wrist-blades, signaling for Eknath to come and get her.

"I'm right here, Eknath."

Eknath manifested from out of nowhere in the middle of the clearing before her, fingers sprayed. The two heavy trees to her right and left rose up fast for something their weight, their roots snapped and the trunks slammed together a second after she leapt from the ground. She came down in a shoulder-roll, and came back up with right hand slicing up through the air in front of her.

Eknath stepped back, two new wounds running from chin to scalp on his already scarred face. The fact and pain put flames in his red eyes and he sent a wall of the Dark Side at her, flinging her back.

The ysalamiri in her armor only kept her from Eknath's direct influence, but he could still use the Dark Side to throw things at her. Although she was covered in armor, he clearly had the advantage; he could easily sense her as a void in the Force, only made easier by the life surrounding them in the forest. She stood out in the Force as a cloud over a bright sun. But she could not sense him. He supposed that was admirable, for her to fight him using only what weapons that archaic armor gave her.

Admirable or stupid.

A lifetime of battles had taught her how to land safely in every fall, and even Eknath's Dark Side push could not keep her landing on her toes and hands, coiled and ready to pounce the instant she touched down on the ground, a wall of fire building in the forest at her back.

She illuminated the air between them with a jet of napalm from her wrist, a thick column of fire that flooded out to swallow Eknath. But the Dark Jedi retorted with a wall of protection, erecting an invisible barrier between him and the fire. The fire reflected off and washed out to the sides, and yet Junn kept pouring liquid flames at the man.

"Do you know what it means to be a soldier, Junn?" Eknath shouted from inside his shell of protection. "To be cannon fodder. Just another one among thousands. Unnamed, faceless, designed to _die_!"

With that last word he pushed the wall forward, forcing Junn to ignite her jetpack and soar above her own wall of fire before it roared across the ground. Flames licked her boots before she was clear and once she was in the air she once again fell victim to Eknath's lightning strikes.

Blue and white tendrils stretched out to embrace her, to fill her veins with electricty and shut off all communication between her nerves and brain. The bolts touched her and instantly rampaged through her system, igniting her skin and destroying her jetpack. She managed to unfasten it before it exploded and dropped several levels to the ground, brushing off a tree thicker than her on the way down.

Junn impacted with the ground and finally screamed out in pain as her right leg broke beneath her own weight.

Eknath screamed along, full of delight. "There it is! Scream, my girl, scream! Scream out your broken hollow heart!"

Junn managed to push herself up and staggered to hide against the very tree that had broken her fall somewhat.

"Ah, who's hiding now?" Eknath ridiculed her. "Come out, little girl! Soldiers don't have the option of turning away from a fight! You should know that better than anyone!"

She armed her gauntlet, prepping the rocket dart launcher. And swallowing her pain she spun around the curve of the tree and lined up her wrist with Eknath's figure in the clearing, the flames growing around him. But she didn't fire, her sight starting to blur, her one leg unsteady.

Eknath raised his chin and started to clap his hands together. "Animal...to the end. We're not so different after all. You an untamed wolf," Eknath smiled deviously, "me; a chameleon with an agendy of his own."

She shook her head and started to walk into the clearing, dragging her leg, keeping Eknath in her crosshairs, as best as she was able to. "I'm nothing like you, Eknath. You're a creature, a soulless man."

Eknath stepped slowly to the side and started walking around her position in a semi-circle, forcing her to keep up her concentration, forcing her to use strength that was already depleted. "But yet, the man that spawned you, the man that is going to kill you."

Junn ached in every section of her body, anxious for some kind of end. "No, you're not. I'm not dead yet."

Again he talked, instead of acted. "You're just - "

And she was sick of it. "Are we going to kill each other or _not_!" she screamed, using all of her pain to send her words high above the treetops.

He finally stopped walking, but instead of attacking, he simply regarded her with a snarl forming on his lips.

Junn realized his ploy too slowly. As he'd walked to one side he'd made her put her back to another section of the clearing. And she could hear it, she could hear the massive weight of the crashed shuttle lift from the ground behind her, hear it fly through the air as light as a feather.

A feather that rammed straight into her back with the weight of several tons, that lifted her off the ground and knocked all air from her lungs. It didn't crash along with her, but only smashed against her, pummeling her to the ground before flying off into the forest to explode and ignite against several trees.

Junn laid broken at the edge of the clearing, so close to the engrossing fire that she could feel her face start to burn, so close she felt her lungs start to choke, so close she could smell her hair crisp. But she was powerless to stop it, her body refused to obey her will, her determination to finish it. She surrendered and laid out flat on the ground, trying to just keep her breath going as the end loomed over her.

Eknath came over and hunched down next to her, delivering a slight tsk-tsk sound. "Not so much spunk left in you now. Consider your options; I could kill you, or I can remove that pesky creature you're carrying and make you my slave," his thin fingers reached out and played with a strand of her blond hair. "We could have so much fun..."

She coughed up blood, felt the world close around her. "How about neither?"

He laughed, a small victorious grin. "You don't have that choice, my girl. There are no choices for a soldier, even for one as...fine as you."

Surprisingly, she started to cackle, a dry hoarse sound that still managed to wipe the smile from Eknath's torn face.

"I know."

Junn exhaled for the last time and her trembling body finally laid perfectly still. Her head rolled to the side and the look of contentment on her face would haunt Eknath for the rest of his life.

All ten seconds of it.

A scrambled synthetic voice spoke behind him, and Eknath rose as he spun around to face the source, all of his body freezing in place.

Her helmet.

"...copy that. We've received the termination of your vital signals, Lady Junn. Proceeding as ordered."

Eknath felt exposed, completely helpless. And with a vicious snarl and a horrible scream of defiance he turned his eyes to the night sky somewhere beyond the treetops all around him.

"Rest in peace, Lady Junn."

Eknath screamed as the orbital barrage of turbolasers from the _Watchmen _in space lit up the night. Blasts the size of houses slammed down into the ground around him, tearing up the earth itself and sending him up into the air. At least until another turbolaser charge intersected his path and pounded him back down into the ground, drowning his scream in the overwhelming sound of a thousand turbolasers raining mayhem down upon the forest.

Even the surge of the Dark Side energy that exploded from his body as he died was lost in the barrage. The galaxy escaped his clutches, but his soul left the galaxy with great defiance.

* * *

The _Koniduz _dropped into a hovering position at the base of the mountain with the Sons of Destiny castle at its peak, venting its jets and settling in snugly. The loading ramp lowered and two cloaked Kjoil Knights descended the steps, with Kal and Kast following them down.

Skar looked up at the castle far above their heads, releasing a sigh.

Kast and Kal looked at each other, worry on both their faces. "This doesn't make sense," Kal muttered, clearly dissaproving, "he's walking straight into an enemy stronghold alone. Why leave us here?"

Kast bent down onto one knee and leaned up against the ship's ramp, his worried expression quickly changing into fatigue. A fresh bandage over his wound, he nodded towards Skar. "None of it ever made sense, Kal. But that doesn't make him wrong though. As for me, I'm willing to let him deal with this on his own. I'm tapped out."

Skar turned around to face the three of them, smiling at Kast. "You fought well, Kast. You should be proud."

Kal's worry faded for a moment as he looked down upon the soldier as well, finding it hard to not smile. "I never would have been here without you, Kast."

Kast shrugged, his eyes slowly closing, falling asleep. "That sounds nice...coming from a friend." The man dozed off almost immediately.

Rishi's attention was drawn to the east, to a fire spreading in the forest far away, a huge column of smoke rising up to the sky.

"What is that?" Rishi asked.

Skar looked at the direction of the forest fire, seeing also the first signs of a sun starting to rise beyond it. "Junn. She's dead."

Rishi looked back at Skar. "She lost?"

Skar shook his head beneath the cowl. "No, she gave her life to kill Eknath."

"I thought you said she was powerful, Master?"

"No..." Skar answered, his voice lowering slightly, "I said she was a good soldier."

Kal's expression cleared. "That means Skind Kjoil is finally gone from this plane, right? It was Junn that was keeping him here all this time, right? That - "

"No. There's still work to be done," Skar destroyed the idea, "promises to be kept."

"Listen, Master," Rishi stepped closer to Skar. "Maybe we can still change - "

Skar scoffed. "Don't be a fool, Rishi. Stop trying to be in control of things beyond your power. There's always been a future, but no outcome yet. If you couldn't see it, it only means the Force didn't want you to know. It's Anakin Skywalker all over again. He changed everything to such an extent that even he could not see the future."

"Doesn't want me to know?"

"Yeah," Skar cocked a smile, "you always were a bit squirmy."

They could hear the droid scrambling through the ship before his loud panicked voice was within range. 2L came down the ramp, clearly distressed. "Master Skar! Master Rishi! There is a substantial enemy presence moving towards our location. Landing crafts and ground vehicles!"

Skar frowned. "Okay..." he looked back up at the mountain. "Rishi; you, Kal and Kast are going to have to fight this one on your own."

Rishi's jaw fell. "You're not going to help us fight them?"

Skar shook his head. "My fate lies down a different path...and you need this,"

Rishi raised an eyebrow. "I need this?"

Skar pulled Rishi away from Kal and Kast, lowering his voice. "Listen, Rishi; whatever happens here, don't use the Force."

"What?" Rishi asked disbelievingly. "Why?"

"Because I am your Master, and I say so."

Rishi glanced at the broken but able Kal, and the sleeping Kast at his feet. "Another piece of good advice?"

Skar gave him a stern gaze. "I thought we were past questioning each other?"

"Yeah, but...Don't Use The Force? What am I supposed to do? Convince them of their evil nature?"

Skar nodded towards the resting Kast. "Kast...he fought through hell, he lost all he's ever known, even his faith. And he did it all without the Force. I know in your eyes he's just a soldier, but he's far stronger than any of us has ever been. You're supposed to fight like the man you are, not what the Force has you thinking you are. If all you are is part of the Force, you're nothing but a shadow of something greater than yourself."

Rishi didn't agree. "That's what it is to be a Jedi."

"You are not a Jedi. You're a Kjoil. The Force fulfills your every need, without asking for anything in return. But how long are you going to let the Force limit who you are, or what you can do?"

Rishi wanted to trust Master Skar, but he wasn't entirely sure if this was the right time to start new training methods. Rishi shook his head. "We can't win this without you."

Skar was surprisingly calm. "No one said anything about winning. It's your fight, Rishi, not mine." He smiled deviously. "We'll meet again once I'm done here, but please remember what I've told you. What I've always tried to tell you. You are more than the Force, and if you can't prove that to at least yourself, if you can't understand that, you will wander forever looking for something that isn't there."

Rishi smiled uncomfortably. "Is that what you did, Master?"

"No," Skar replied, placing a hand on Rishi's shoulder, "I was looking for something that was right in front of me. But I was always looking behind me to find it." Skar looked up to the top of the mountain, at the castle far above their heads. "I'm going to take one last look, and then it is over." Skar took one step towards the mountain and then seemed to think better of it. "I almost forgot. My lightsaber."

Rishi unclipped the lightsaber from his belt and handed it back to his Master, accepting his own back in return.

Skar smiled holding his own weapon again. "I'm going to need this."

Rishi nodded. "May the Force be with you, Master."

Skar smiled. "It will be if you leave it alone." Skar bent down in his knees, summoned the Force and leapt straight up, reaching one outcropping on the mountain before jumping to the next and then the next, climbing the mountain with an impressive use of the Force until he reached the top.

Rishi turned away and joined Kal at the ramp again. "Get Kast on his feet. We're going to need him."

Kal looked at Kast skeptically and seemed very unenamoured by the task. "Maybe...you should do that."

Rishi frowned and used the Force to awaken Kast, pulling out an arm underneath his head.

Kast was up in a second, grunting sourly. "Is it over?"

Rishi shook his head. "Sorry to dissapoint, Kast. It's just about to begin."

"What?" the commando asked. He rubbed his eyes. "I was having a wonderful dream...neither of you were there."

Kal nodded towards the wide open grassy plains behind them. "Incoming hostile force, Kast. We're going to need you."

Kast shrugged off the last remnants of sleep. "Alright," he said flatly and was the first to walk in the direction of the incoming enemies, dropping down on one knee on a small hill. With the rising sun in his eyes, Kast jammed a fresh clip into his trusty rifle and looked out at the horizon, looking perfectly comfortable.

Just another day.

* * *

Skar dropped down onto the giant balcony at the peak of the mountain, a balcony which surrounded a small house with wide open doors and white drapes waving upon the wind. Sasa and Koll's most private chambers. He walked towards the nearest open door, squashing the feelings rising up in him. Images of him growing up inside this house, having a family, being with his parents every day.

It was a past he never had, and a future he would never know.

He stepped inside, the curtains flowing past him.

Sasa laid on her side in the soft couch, breathing deeply, sunlight from outside bathing her. Someone had been kind enough to put a white blanket over her, though blood had stained through in a few patches. He could hear by the sound of her inhale and see by the pale color of her skin that she was dying. Her wound, which she clutched at her belly with her left hand was fatal, but not untreatable.

He stepped into the room, dispensing the desire to hide his entry. She wasn't going to attack him and no one else was in the room. She moved her head enough to see him, a fear at first. But her tear-filled eyes soon became clear and a small smile formed at her cracked lips.

"Come...my son. Sit with me."

Skar walked towards her and sat down before her on his knees by the couch. The wind flowing through the large windows pulled at her hair, rustling it slightly by her broken face. This close he could see the bruises Koll had left on her face, her bloodshot eyes and the tears welling in the corners.

He folded his hands in his lap and sat there, looking at her, not sure what to say. "So...you knew."

"I always knew, Skar." She reached out her hand slowly, touching his cheek, holding it in her palm. "My beautiful son."

He squashed any sadness easily. He knew too well the implications her life had in the Force, and he hated her too much to feel any sorrow for her now. He knew deep inside his hatred wasn't justified, but...he never knew them well enough to truly care about any of his parents. All he had now was the loyalty and the commitment to fulfill his destiny.

But he still moved his face closer to her palm, relinquishing all his hurt in her softness. "This isn't his face," he whispered, "this is your brother."

She coughed, her entire body trembling with the effort. "No," she said firmly, "your eyes. I see it in your eyes. I see my son. I see the same eyes that looked up at me when I gave birth to you. I saw him there on Regana too. I knew it was you. And I see it now." She smiled and the tears streamed down her face. "I missed you, Skar. Nothing ever felt right since I abandoned you." Her voice cracked. "I'm so sorry."

He supported the palm on his cheek with his own hand and kissed it. "Its alright now. Its over."

She nodded, and started to cry harder, her face squeezing shut. "I missed out on so much of you...raising you, seeing your growth, being with you in your good days and your bad times. I would change all of it if I could, Skar. But...I had to let go of you, so others could have the same things. I had to give you up, I had to fight, so no one else had to. Every day, every battle, every second, I was fighting so you could have a life and children of your own in a world without war and fear."

Skar supposed he could admire her for that, but it didn't change the state of things. "It will be a long time before that kind of world is going to be. But it'll get there, someday."

She tugged on his hand. "With people like you, I'm sure it will."

Skar shook his head. "It's not going to be my job."

"What?"

He pondered explaining to her what he had learned about the Kjoil, but he realized there was no point in telling her now. Soon she would be a part of the Force, and nothing would matter then. He smiled tiredly. "I'm an old soul...Rishi's going to take over for me."

"I'm sorry I never had the chance to meet him. But if he had you as his Master, he will do the right thing. I'm sure of it."

Skar hoped so too. "He's learned a lot the last few days...and he's not as inward as I am. For what it's worth, this mission taught him more in a handful of days than I could in several years. He carries your legacy now. There's little more he has to learn from me."

She seemed comfortable with that thought. "Maybe that was all we were meant to do." She chuckled, even though it pained her. "Ironic, isn't it? I tried to destroy the Republic...and I end up saving it by dying."

He couldn't help but laugh along with her. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

She managed to lay down completely flat on her back with some effort, groaning in pain. "Skar...Koll is on the beach below this castle. I know you have to stop him...I understand now why it has to be this way. We were wrong. Too wrapped up in leaving a legacy...a sun can only shine, where we don't cast shadow."

Skar lowered his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm going to finish it. That's my fate. My burden."

She smiled at him. "It's in your genes to carry great burdens, son." She couldn't take her eyes away from him. "I don't expect you to ever forgive me, Skar...but I'm happy you're here. At the end of it." She reached inside of her belt and pulled out a small hologram projector, a very outdated one, one from before the Clone Wars. She handed it to him and closed her eyes, starting to drift away. "This is the answer...to everything."

Skar accepted and pocketed it.

She coughed. "I shouldn't be sad...you turned out fine without me. My death like this will be too prolonged, boy. No point in you staying around. You better get out of here."

Skar reached out to the Force for the strength to end her suffering, to ease her passage. But what he found there only made his heart clam shut.

He sighed. "You...you're not dying."

Her eyes cleared up, looking at him confused. "What?"

"Your wound is not fatal, I thought it was," he said with heavy regret in his voice, "if it was, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have to. There'd be no point. No cause." He stood up, still holding her hand in his, knowing what he had to do. And he wished now he had just killed her the moment he'd walked into the room, before they'd had a chance to talk to each other. It would have made things much simpler. "I...have to help you," his eyes started to produce tears he thought he wouldn't have to shed, and feelings rose in him that he would have sworn he could never feel.

"Yes," she said, "you can do it. Don't leave me here to die alone." She nodded towards the lightsaber on his belt, tears falling down her face, and a proud smile on her face. "You have it in you. You'll do what you can't do...just as I did."

* * *

With the sun finally free of the horizon and now just slowly rising up to illuminate the world around them, Kal and Rishi sat next to Kast on top of a small slope, barely a hill, both of them cradling rifles they'd requesitioned from the _Koniduz_. Miles and miles of flat landscape filled with tall pristine waving grass expanded in almost all directions, and yet Rishi was restless. Restless because he knew that it was not all empty, and because he knew where the danger would be coming from. His hands held the rifle to his chest.

Rishi looked to his right, seeing Kal fidgeting with his rifle. "So," his voice was firm, "is today going to be your lucky day, Kal?"

Kal smiled, his eyes squinting. "You never know, Rishi."

Kast, the calmest of them, looked at them both. "No way, Rishi," he said grumpily, "I'll be old and gray before Kal's in a grave, and this place will be as barren as Tatooine before I let that happen."

Rishi and Kal both chuckled at him, letting the tension out of both their hearts. They both felt safer having Kast along.

"There," Kal said suddenly and nodded towards the horizon to the north.

Kast lined up his rifle with his shoulder and scanned the horizon with the scope. There, in the blurred glare where ground met sky he saw shadows growing slowly in size. He increased the magnification and identified the shapes to be a large group of rapidly approaching speederbikes, fully armored Sons of Destiny soldiers charging at them with the grass laid flat behind them.

"Indeed," Kast confirmed, "twenty miles out. They'll be here in two or three minutes."

Kal shuddered next to him.

"Relax," Kast said annoyed, extracting a grenade launcher attachment from his armor, locking it tight beneath the barrel of his rifle. From his belt he grabbed a handful of odd-looking grenades. "Sentries," he explained, "excellent for home-protection."

Rishi lowered his rifle, curious. "What do they do?"

Kast loaded the grenade launcher and raised his rifle to aim at the sky at an angle above the oncoming enemy forces. Though the recoil was severe, Kast hardly budged as he fired the grenades into the sky. In the far distance each sentry touched down among the tall grass and buried itself slightly beneath the ground. After a four-second delay the sentry activated itself.

"Observe."

As the lead enemy speederbike passed over it, the sentry instantly launched hundreds of small metallic balls into the sky on a trajectory that would intercept the bike's heading. As the balls descended from the sky, rapidly accelerating like tiny missiles, each one armed its internal detonator.

The lead bike's rider looked up just in time to see hundreds of bombs dropping down on him. The bike was lost in an inferno of small explosions which, coupled with the explosion of the bike itself, resulted in a huge fireball flaring across the grass, shrapnel and twisted metal tossed in every direction.

The remaining speederbikes swirled around the burning wreck and kicked into full speed. More sentries were activated along their path but no more riders fell to the same ploy. Their bikes swooped right and left to avoid the rain of a thousand bombs suddenly exploding around them.

"Damn it," Kast muttered. "They're too good."

Rishi shared the commando's thoughts. The remaining speederbikes put more distance between them, so far apart that the falling bombs were unable to even rattle the two riders on the far ends. Soon enough the bombs ran out and the speederbikes continued undaunted against Rishi and his two companions.

"Ready?" Rishi asked, cocking his rifle.

Kast shook with great unafraid laughter while Kal barely mustered a brave nod.

"Then lets send them packing."

Like an impatient child Kast pulled up his rifle, aiming it at the centermost rider. Soon enough the rifle rattled like a thunderstorm, hundreds of bolts leaving its muzzle. Kast roared with carnivourous joy as the rifle pounded against his shoulder, enough to send a smaller man on his back but barely even affecting the seasoned commando.

The bolts dropped like hail towards the riders, pouring over the intended rider like a hundred sharpened fists, shredding the man's armor and body in a second, leaving his bike a smoking ruin that flew for a few hundred yards before completely dissolving, exploding against the grass in a great but short flare.

The oncoming speederbikes within firing range, Kal and Rishi hunched down on their knees and opened fire. Though their rifles came nowhere close to drowning out Kast's insane battle cry, their bolts still managed to stir up enough danger that the speederbikes scattered, one of them turning too hard, slipping out of his saddle and dumping onto the ground. Before the man could get back up, Kast's rifle found him and dissolved him into a red cloud of armor and blood.

Two speederbikes came in from their left, dangerously close to riding down the three defenders. Rishi, Kal and Kast dropped to the ground, rolling to safety as the two speederbikes swooped over their heads, only to split up and come back around for another swoop.

Rishi came up on one knee, letting the rifle hang by the strap over his shoulder and pulling out his lightsaber instead. Pivoting to his left as one speederbike came at him he completed his circle, slashing the sword across the rider's back. Blood sprayed in a fine arc from the man's spine and as the man instinctively reached behind him to touch the wound, he lost control of the bike and dived it straight down into a hill of grass.

Rishi watched the bike plow into the ground, breaking in half and sending the pilot flying through the sky. He smashed against the ground with such speed that the wound on his back opened fully, breaking him in half, upper and lower body resting twenty feet apart.

Rishi's stormach turned, but before revulsion could manifest itself fully he heard the booming hum of a bike behind him. He turned around, putting his sword up in a guard stance. He knew instantly it wouldn't save him. The sight of that speederbike racing at him at full speed played itself out in extended time, a blurryness to everything.

A million thoughts passed through his head but his body was locked in place, frozen by fear. He saw the face of the rider underneath his helmet, saw that grin grow bigger and bigger, until he could count the teeth in the man's mouth. Somewhere beyond the haziness of the surreal moment he heard Kal scream.

"_Rishiiiii!_"

The lightsaber leaped out of his hand on it's own and cut the speederbike's rider into half. The bike went off to the side at the very last second, burying itself in the ground, spinning around itself several times before exploding.

He hadn't sent the lightsaber flying, but as he saw it drop out of the sky and into Kal's hands, he knew who had. Rishi couldn't allow himself to use the Force, Master Skar had commanded him so, but Kal could. Rishi dropped down to the ground, and Kal came scrambling over him, rifle in one hand and lightsaber in the other.

More and more speederbikes came out of nowhere and raced over their heads. Everyone put up a good fight, but it was clear they were fighting a lost battle. Despite Kast's prowness and eagerness for chaos, even he couldn't keep up with the swarm of enemy speederbikes.

Kal handed the lightsaber back to Rishi and never removed his finger from the trigger on his rifle. "Rishi! You gotta get back up! We need you!"

Rishi shook his head, he knew he should stand up and fight, but everything screamed at him. "There's too many! We should fall back to the _Koniduz_!"

"They'll rip us to pieces if we tried!" Kal shouted. "We have to hold this position or we - "

A stray bolt caught Kal in the chest and the man cried out in pain, rolling over onto his back. Every instinct and part of Rishi's soul begged for him to use the Force to put Kal back into a fighting condition, but he couldn't. Master Skar wouldn't have told him not to use the Force if he wasn't convinced it was dangerous.

Rishi rolled over to Kal, bolts flying over their heads. Color was already draining from Kal's face. "Kal! Kal!"

Kal coughed, tears of pain in his eyes. "Rishi...you have to..."

The young Kjoil could hear Kast roaring like a caged animal just a few steps up the hill they were lying on. But he already knew Kast was dead too. Just like Kal was, and just like he was.

"We won't make it, Kal. Its impossible. I can't beat them."

Kal's eyes turned clear. He took in a deep breath and his inhale finally steadied. "You don't have to beat them, Rishi."

Rishi was about to object about the insanity Kal was proposing when Kal's words stabbed through his confusion and his fear with startling clarity. He didn't have to defeat them. It was never about destroying the enemy forces. It wasn't about winning. It wasn't about surviving.

It was about _defending_.

_No one said anything about winning._

Rishi almost smiled. "I can hold them - "

"Because you have to," Kal finished. His eyes started to lose their intensity and it was obvious to Rishi, even without the Force, that Kal was surrending himself to the Force. With odd calm Kal made a last daredevil grin. "Don't rob me of my destiny, you have your own to take care of. You've got better things to do. Now, get out of here."

Rishi firmed his grip on his lightsaber, getting himself ready to fight the greatest battle he would ever have to fight. He was detached from it, however, a strange trance set upon his mind. In this moment, in Kal's words, he knew he'd not only found the tools and means to survive this fight, but even the one after that, and the one after.

He'd found the key to his soul, an old knot finally unwound. The answer to his life's ancient riddle, why he had been given his powers. All his life he'd been fighting alone against evil, injustice and those who empowered such terms. He'd been fighting them head-on, going staight for the source, seeking them out every day, and that was his mistake.

He'd always been fighting to make himself feel better, he'd never actually been defending, not even in Coruscant's underground. It had always been about himself, and never about them. About him trying to make a difference by fighting on his own. In truth he never fought for the lifes of those who needed it, he didn't care about them, he only cared about living up to his own ideal, his own image of himself.

He was not supposed to be fighting, he was only meant to defend, he was meant to _care enough _to defend. Fighting was a hostile act, and of the Dark Side. Rishi could never defeat this army, not in a million years. And it was in his lack of understanding the difference between fighting and defending, all of his flaws were revealed. Like Kast, he would try and that was all he had to do. Kast faced the same dilemma as him and he wasn't backing down. He was up there, fighting for their lifes, and in the face of certain death, he wasn't unnerved.

Kast fought against impossible odds, because he _cared_.

In the back of his mind he heard the voice he'd since learned belonged to Junn, when she had been talking to him back on Regana; _This war...is insignificant compared to the changes you will make. The right person, at the right place, at the right time, can change all that was ever known._

Rishi rose again and faced the swarm of speederbikes, coming up to stand next to Kast, a heavy lightsaber in his hands.

"Back to back," he said to Kast.

The soldier instantly spun around and put his back up against Rishi's, his rifle never silent for a second.

Rishi snarled at the incoming forces, full of an anger he didn't quite understand, full of a pride and determination nothing he'd ever done with the Force could compare to. He was going to fight, not to win, but to keep his friends safe. He screamed all his frustration and anger in a loud venomous battle-cry that far outmatched anything Kast had so far produced.

And out there on the beautiful terrain in front of him, none of the enemies that were flying through and over it were deprived of the sound. Spinning the blue lightsaber in his hand and bringing it up above his head, Rishi screamed even louder as their bikes began to fire at him, even as they came rampaging towards him as one giant sea of speederbikes.

* * *

If Anodyn existed on any record of perfect spots for a vacation, the prime attraction would undoubtedly be the beaches. Anodyn had some of the most magnificent waterlines in the Galaxy. The sun cast a sparkling sheen across the surface of the waving ocean, millions of twinkling lights dancing into a never-ending horizon. The waves crashed against the shore with poetic beauty and entrancing sound, propelling Koll's thoughts far away from the horrible reality he'd helped create.

The heavy armor he wore had patches of blood, Sasa's blood, on the gloves and beneath the audio soundscape of the water in front of him, he could still hear her screaming. He could still see her beautiful eyes staring up at him, could still feel his fist pound against her face until those eyes were unrecognizable.

His jaw was still clenched, a trembling pain beating through his teeth.

His boots were buried in the sand and the water reached his ankles as it moved in and out but he was barely aware of it. The armor itself hummed with energy, electricity crawling through its advanced circuitry, but it was just a shell to him. There was no pride or honor left in him, no great feeling of accomplishment. He'd been betrayed from every corner, he'd been the blind fool in the middle of a greater ploy. As he could never forgive any of them, he could never forgive himself, and he knew too well his time was almost up.

"Koll!"

Koll turned at the edge of the water to see Skar standing at bottom of the concrete stairs, a determined look on his face. His heart fluttered with sudden anxiety, and a joy was trying to manifest itself but he wouldn't let it. The last few weeks had brought many ghosts to his eyes and he didn't trust them anymore. He thought he saw his son standing there, but that couldn't be possible. He himself had ordered that body torn apart and tied to a post back on Regana.

Was insanity finally becoming reality?

He wanted to turn away from the ghost standing there, and he did, to look at the sea again. Lose himself in the purity of something he could see, hear and smell. Something real.

"KOLL!"

He closed his eyes, trying to block out the image from his mind. "Shut up! You're not real! I saw you dead!"

He could hear boots walking across the sand. "I _am _real, Koll."

_Impossible_, he thought. He couldn't accept the possibility. Hurting Sasa was one thing, but to believe he'd actually doomed his own son...the things he'd had done to the body...it couldn't be. How could he have stood before his own son and not known it? How had he been so deceived?

"How?" he asked. "How did you come back?"

The boots stopped walking. "I had a little help from a friend."

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore calmed him, giving him enough strength to face the ghost fully. The man standing there in a black cloak felt like the same man he'd strung up back on Regana, yet his face was different. If anything the man resembled Skind more than Koll found comfortable.

The world swirled inside of Koll's head. "I thought I sensed you, but I wasn't sure. I was never sure. Eknath told me - "

Skar started walking towards Koll again, prompting his silence, his eyes never leaving Koll. "It's over, Koll. I only wish it could have happened sooner."

Koll felt the spite in his words, his heart and soul starting to ache. "Skar, if what Eknath said is true, then...I'm sorry."

Skar frowned. "A little too late for apologies, Koll."

Koll held out his hands. "Don't call me that. I...am your father, and you are my son."

Skar's expression showed no change. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"Why?"

"It shows you're scared of me. You know you can't kill me, you know you don't _want _to kill me. Whether or not we are related, makes no difference. I will kill you. I have to. And I _want _to. Because," he said each word slowly, laced with venom, "_I...hate...you_."

Koll felt tears pressing their way out behind his eyes. "I do not blame you, my son. But think about it. You hate this world as much as I do. You know I am the one who can put everything right again. Eknath may have done some damage, but its nothing you and I can't fix. We can still be a family, son. Come with me."

Skar shook his head very slowly.

"We can still have a home," Koll pleaded.

"Home?" the word sounded wrong, bereft of warmth. "I wouldn't know what that really means, Koll. I've never had one. And I'm sorry, but I don't put much faith in the words of a man who left the world behind, only to come back years later and claim to be its salvation. You're as responsible for the way things are, as all those people you plotted to destroy. But I admit I was curious to see how you were going to make amends for all the people you would have killed in the name of 'freedom'."

Koll couldn't take it. "You didn't see - "

"I don't need to. The problem with this world has nothing to do with them. It's people like you, Koll. Self-rightous men who manage to deceive everyone with big intentions and big armies, able to fool anyone but themselves. That's the whole problem with your plan, Koll. You actually thought you were doing the world a favor."

Koll's right hand clutched into a fist. "They will not repel the invasion alone. You know that as well as I do."

Skar shrugged. "They don't have. They just have to survive."

Koll couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're going to let them all die?"

"No, Koll. The Jedi and the Republic must fight this on their own, they'll be stronger because of it. Many will die, but the change in this Galaxy will save more. They will bring peace," Skar remembered an old quote he'd once despised, "at the cost of war."

Koll scoffed. "Who are you to decide?"

"I didn't _decide_. I was told." Skar looked out at the horizon, seemingly completely at peace. "It is why I am still here. It's destiny, Koll. I'm not meant to die...not yet. It is my bond to the living, the same that Skind and Kayupa once had. We shape the future, as we're destined to do." Skar's eyes turned to Koll again and he continued to walk towards him. "But you _can _die, Koll. Your destiny is fulfilled. And you may not be able to see it, but you did have a hand in this. You helped shaped the future. I'm sorry it wasn't the way or the future you envisioned," Skar chuckled lightly, "but...neither was mine."

Koll's teeth ground together. "You fool. How many more lives are you going to destroy?"

Skar's hand removed the lightsaber from his belt. "At least...one more.

Maybe that was true, maybe that was why he could feel himself slipping away. And maybe it was for the best. Koll felt ready to die, he admitted to himself, but bowing down before a lightsaber just wasn't in him. He would fight to the death, and keep his honor. And in his mind, it was only fair that his son was his executor. An eye for an eye. The fight had two possible scenarios, but only one outcome; being as equal as they were it would either be a short duel or a quick duel, but it was already destined that Skar would be the one walking away.

And what better place to end it, than here on the Galaxy's most beautiful beach, his splendid castle looming over them, together with his son at last.

Koll wearily readied his weapon, opting for a single red blade this time instead of two. He already knew he'd lost so two blades wouldn't make any difference. "You turned out fine without me, son. This is not how I ever envisioned us being together, but...I'll take what scraps I can get. Finish it. It's better to die by the hand of someone you love...than someone you hate."

Skar's green lightsaber lit up. "Sasa thought so too."

Koll swirled the blade by his side, an uninspired twirl, and dropped into his defensive position, two tears finally flowing down his cheeks. "Fight me, son. Make me proud."

Then Koll roared like an animal and threw himself at Skar. So much aggression flooded through Koll that it felt like a blinding light inside of himself, his hands moved faster with every second, his heart raced so quickly his entire body throbbed with each lunge. Koll fought with all the anger and despair he could put into his strikes, fiercely attempting to break Skar's defences.

Koll couldn't help but see his old Master's face and it helped him fight faster and stronger. Skind Kjoil's face was mocking him, and he could actually deceive himself into thinking it was really him. Even if he knew it wasn't, the face still set fire to his blood and pumped napalm through his veins.

Their lightsabers thrashed and sparkled with their own intensity. The sand at their feet was torn up, as was the water brushing up against their boots. The tips of their blades occassionally touched the surface of the water, heating it in a flash and creating smoke.

Their fight was brief but fast, and one who might have witnessed it would seen two fighters at their prime, battling at the edge of the beach, feet deep in the water. The sun was still rising above them, casting a golden sheen upon the water. And as the day was just getting started, a great chapter in the history of the Kjoil was finally reaching a close.

* * *

Far above Anodyn's surface, a strange occurance was taking place. The exact same situation was occurring at two different, albeit close, sites.

On the bridges of the _Masamune _and the _Ronin_, captains Kerner and Cygan both awoke from a dark sleep. Both men shook their heads at first, careful not to make any sounds. Neither knew how long they had been put under Eknath's spell, but both knew that they were now free.

Both of them found themselves bound to their command chairs on the bridges of their destroyers, and behind them many Sons of Destiny soldiers and technicians had taken the places of their old crew.

Both men could read the screens in front of them and see that they were in orbit above Anodyn, but didn't know why they were still there. According to what Eknath had told them, their minds would be manipulated into driving the destroyers into Coruscant's surface and bringing great destruction to the Republic's capital.

None of the soldiers behind them knew that they'd awoken from their trance, that they were now in control of their bodies and minds again. But there was no doubt in either man's mind about what they had to do. Although bound to the chairs they still had the freedom of their hands.

Both captains unlocked the secret compartment in the command chair's armrest, revealing a hidden set of switches. And they punched in the sequence they had to, with a bitter taste in their mouth, yet no fear or hesitation about the neccisity of it. But that didn't stop any of them from shedding tears and closing their eyes as the first rumbles of the self-destruct system exploded in a rapid succession through the bowels of the ship far beneath the bridge.

* * *

Although his mind wasn't linked with the Force, his body still remembered the magnificent acrobatics it had allowed him to make in the past. His body remembered how to spin a lightsaber in his hands as fast as possible to deflect as many bolts as possible. His body remembered the footwork, the quick steps and everything just came to him as natural.

But the Force still reached out to him, offering its help and he denied it. For the first time in his life he shunned the Force, pushed it back, denied it to touch him. It wanted to help him, it felt his need, but he blocked it. Defending himself against a wide array of blasterbolts became much simpler than denying an all-powerful Force that lived in all things from being a part of him.

Kast was still at his back, fighting brilliantly with great fury, fighting with ever inch of strength his mind could give him. In that sense, Kast was a far greater part of the Force than he was. Kast was a blistering glare of light and energy and although the commando denied to being able to wield the Force, he was very much a part of it at that moment.

Two things happened;

The first thing was when the clear sky above their heads suddenly lit up with two giant flashes. For a few seconds it seemed the sun itself had exploded, shattering blistering light pouring down from above. Rishi felt he had to cover his eyes from the glare, he even thought he could feel the temperature around him rising. Once again his mind and body demanded he used the Force to find out what was happening, to know if he was in any danger, and once again he denied the Force. He knew for certain something had happened in orbit, maybe a space battle; maybe the Republic had finally arrived and were engaging in combat with the Sons of Destiny.

The second thing was much closer; the Sons of Destiny riders turned away and around on their speederbikes and slowed the purring machines down into a full halt, abandoning their vehicles. Two dozen armored soldiers unholstered rifles from their engines and converged into a tight group.

Then they marched towards the small hill.

Kast came around to stand next to him, aiming his rifle at the group. Rishi couldn't control his breathing anymore. He felt like a caged animal and his fear was pounding blood through his heart at an insane rate. He could have easily defeated this group, even alone, if he had control of the Force.

But this tired, this weary, this close, he doubted his chances.

And why Kast wasn't already firing at them appalled him, almost as much as why they weren't firing at him and Kast.

Rishi stood there, exhausted and weakened, and in complete confusion about everything around him. Beyond his will or control, his right leg started to buckle, trembling as though the ground beneath him was quaking. The leg caved in on itself and he dropped down on one knee.

The lightsaber in his hand died. Not because he'd turned it off, but because the powercell inside the handle had dried out.

_No_, he thought, _no, not like this._

Rishi sighed, and his body fell down onto its side on its own, a useless lightsaber rolling away off the tip of his fingers. He could feel his fingers fumbling for it, but it tumbled down the hill and seemed forever lost. Fatigue conquered him and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.

"Rishi?" he could hear Kast talking to him. "Rishi, you okay?"

But Rishi was already fading away, falling into a sleep he couldn't combat, every last amount of strength drained from his body. "He could have stayed," Rishi said to no one, "he could have taken them alone if he wanted to...he wanted me...to do it on my own. I needed it...I had to do it...to know..."

Kast was shaking him now. "Rishi!"

But Rishi was already sleeping, giving himself fully and finally to a rest he knew he surely deserved, closing his eyes to escape the image of those soldiers starting to march up the hill, only a few steps away.

_It's out of my hands now..._

He finally drifted into unconsciousness, feeling strangely fulfilled that he'd done whatever he could, that he had done the best he could. His part in everything was over, his battle was over.

It was done.

And he'd done well.

* * *

Skar swiped his blade down upon Koll's, locking the lightsabers. Koll pressed their blades down to his right, causing the tips of both blades to dig into the sand at their feet. As the sea washed in their blades touched water, which gave the blades a cracking sound as well as showering them both in smoke and sputtering bubbles.

Koll grinned victoriously, seeing Skind's face so close, his blade locked in the water and sand. He could easily move the blade up and connect it with Skar's chest. "You're going to have to do better."

Skar couldn't remove his blade from under Koll's pressure, pulling his face away from the superheated water flying at his face. But the solution was easily found.

"You're not as strong as you could have been, Koll. Guess Skind did something right after all."

Koll's eyes burned like a furnace. He snarled and kicked Skar away from him, their blades finally free of one another. Skar stumbled back a few steps, and momentarily lost his balance. Koll came at him with great ferocity before he could get back up, his red blade slamming down on Skar's, forcing the Kjoil onto his knees in the wet sand.

Once again Koll kept their blades locked, putting all his weight down upon Skar's lightsaber. "There's nothing left of his teachings in me, son. For once, at last, I am above him."

Both Skar's hands tightened on his hilt. And he summoned the Force into his hands, just enough so he could remove one hand from the hilt and still keep their blades locked.

"That you are," Skar said.

His free hand touched the hidden switch in his lightsaber's panel and the hilt became two hilts in his hand. The second blade lit up in Skar's free hand and Skar swiped it beneath his and Koll's blade, cutting a clear line across the armor covering Koll's stormach.

The sound was terrible. Koll screamed like a man in flames, his body suddenly dropping onto his knees, putting him at Skar's height. Koll's pain removed the strength from their locked blades and Skar easily pushed them back and up with his first blade, cleaving Koll's hands at the wrists with the second.

The red lightsaber flew away into the sea and Koll's armor started to shoot electric sparks from his severed gauntlets, from the internal electricity that made the armor function so magnificently. Electricity shot up and down his arms, but his severed wrists fell down to his sides and Koll did nothing to hide his pain.

Skar rose before his vanquished father, the rushing waves drowning most of his father's crying.

"Do it," Koll moaned, and resisted the looking up into Skar's eyes. "Do it!" he screamed. "Finish me!"

Skar couldn't help but think he'd been in this moment in time before, with Kayupa at his feet. It was ironic, he thought, that they would die the same way. Two people he'd actually thought were the same, ended up in the same place. Ironic, or maybe destiny. Back then he'd made the mistake of not finishing it.

Skar reassembled his lightsaber and then reached inside of his cloak and pulled forth the old hologram projector that Sasa had given him. With the flick of a thumb he activated the message inside. Koll stared at it with great confusion as the voice of his old Master Skind Kjoil started to play. It was the same message that Skar had heard years ago from the Holocron, Skind Kjoil's last transmission shortly before his suicide. Skar had never thought the answer to all this would have been so easily found in such an old message.

"Well, night is almost upon me," Skind said, a sobbing in his voice, "I can see the moon from here. Death smiles at me. Soon my sister will come to visit me. I wish you well, sister. My spirit will always live on in you and Koll. "

Skind let out his breath, the relief in his voice clearly audible.

"And in your son."

Skar switched it off and watched the expression on Koll's face go from puzzlement to painful realization.

_They _were _all _the real reason Skind was still in this realm, creating unbalance;

Him, Sasa and Skar.

Koll started shaking his head. "No, no, no. It's not - "

"You were so busy building the future," Skar took a step back, clear of the waterline, "you forgot to look at the past."

Koll's tear-filled eyes slowly looked up into Skar's.

But Skar's eyes were looking at the approaching wave of water that was building behind Koll, coming straight at him. The wave of water rushed over and enfolded Koll, electrocuting him alive as the suit's malfunctioning power system merged with the water. Koll screamed a lifetime of pain, his eyes shot wide open as the electricity caressed every pore of his body. He leaned back on his knees, screaming at the sky above, roaring in agony as his face charred and the hair singed from his scalp.

Skar stared into his eyes even as they burned away inside the emerging skull, and spinning on his heel he swung the lightsaber around, removing Koll's head from his shoulders. The screaming died as the head exploded into a million pieces of ash the moment the lightsaber connected, ash that scattered to the wind and his father's headless body fell back flat into the water. As the wave pulled back out, it took the heavy corpse out to sea, and Skar watched it float for a few heartbeats before it sank beneath the surface.

He felt like crying, but he knew they weren't his tears. It was Skind and Kayupa mourning an irredeembable student and father. Yet he remained standing there, letting them both have their moment of goodbye to the fallen Koll Riokon. All he felt was relief, another burden finally lifted, bringing him one step closer to a fulfilled destiny.

Completion.

Like standing at the end of a long trip.

* * *

"All they left was this."

Rishi slowly regained consciousness, thought he heard Kast's voice talking to someone. His entire body felt like a heavy slab of stone, impossible to move. His head hurt with a pounding headache, and all that kept him from screaming out for help was the cool breeze moving over his exposed skin, and the sound of grass softly waving around him.

An unfamiliar voice stole away his sanctuary, a synthesized voice, like that of a hologram.

"My name is Galad, and thanks to you, whoever you are, I am now the present commander of what remains of the Sons of Destiny army," the voice was stern, but not unkind. "I do not wish to delay you or myself any longer than I have to. By now it is possible Republic forces are on their way to this very planet to intercept either my group or yourself."

Rishi gathered the strength to sit up, to open his eyes. Before him a shimmering blue hologram was being projected from a small comlink on the ground at his feet. He could see the back of this Galad character and beyond the hologram he could see Kast, 2L and Master Skar perched on the ramp of the _Koniduz_.

"We are going to retreat deeper into the Unknown Regions, as per the instructions of Lady Junn. How she knew what was going to happen here is beyond me, but such is the mythology of great heros. I will maintain command of my group until we've come to a democratic solution regarding our future. Right now things are in a state of chaos, thanks to you people," he made a lighthearted chuckle, "but there is a common sentiment that this will be for the best."

Rishi's eyes found Skar's beyond the hologram and Skar was smiling at him, a very relieved and honest smile that almost brought Rishi to tears.

It was finally over.

He could see it in his eyes

"We've been monitoring all of your exploits on the planet from space, and the faults of our original plans are embarrasingly obvious to most of us. But it will take some time before we can decide on a common course from here, and many of us will also need time to grieve the loss of our commanders, our mentors and leaders. The Republic need fear no attack from us in the future, and knowing what we know about the future, it is more likely we will infact one day honor General Riokon's wishes and fight alongside the Republic."

Galad held up his hands. "But I honestly don't know. A lot of things are up in the air. I extend to you this hologram as a token of our...respect for the first group to ever defeat us. The loss is severe, but it is times like these where the greatest of wisdoms are uncovered. We will journey now into the unknown, but I have a feeling our paths may cross again someday. A very special message goes out to the one called Kast."

Kast perked at the sound of his name.

"If you ever find yourself in need of adventure, we'll find you," the commander laughed, "a man after our own heart. Our spy network remains somewhat intact, and we will be monitoring your future progress, Kast, as we will also be watching over the New Republic. How things go from here...I still can't say. But feel comforted when I say," the man raised his hand to his temple and saluted them, "the Sons of Destiny owes you a debt, and we are men of our word. Fare well on your travels, and may the Force be with you."

The hologram disappeared.

Rishi managed to get onto his feet and brushed away the dirt on his clothes. Afterwards he took in a deep breath and allowed his mind to collect itself, allowed his body to get used to standing up again, though a thick layer of fatigue still cloud his mind. "So...is that it? That's it, isn't it?"

Skar nodded and looked out at the blazing sun. "End of story."

Rishi walked over to them and knelt down in front of Skar and Kast. "So they left...just like that?"

Skar looked at him strangely. "Rishi, you can use the Force now if you want to."

Rishi shook his head, smiling with a bit of pride. "Don't want to." He looked up at the clear blue sky above him. "Well, good riddance. Saves me the trouble of fighting them. At least for now, anyway." He was instantly conscious of a loss. "Wait - Kal. Is he...?"

Kast nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

Rishi's heart sank. In some way he'd already known Kal was dying when they'd spoken on the hill, but that was in the heat of battle. Feelings flowed quickly then. But now, in the silence, Kal's loss banged inside of him with great pain. The man had become a great friend, despite their first reservations against each other. He would miss Kal dearly, though they'd only known each other for short time, he felt he'd lost a life-long friend.

Skar didn't take his eyes off Rishi's bowed head. "He's been buried already," he said softly. "We decided it would be easier for you this way."

Rishi didn't fight back his tears, but he knew in time he would move past this pain, that he would not lose himself in this despair. "Thank you, Master." Rishi wiped away the tears and looked up at Kast. "I'm sorry. I know you were close to him as well."

Kast's stern face revealed no sadness, only a grim hard edge. "I've lost a lot of those lately, Rishi. But yes," Kast breathed in, "he was a good friend." The soldier looked as though he wanted to say more, but his mouth clammed up and he looked away, instantly hard edge again.

Rishi didn't press the issue, but instead looked to his Master. "Everything work out the way you envisioned it?"

Skar's eyes squinted, a little surprised at Rishi's question. "I never forsaw all that happened here, Rishi."

Rishi didn't understand. "Then how? How did you know?"

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did. Some way, you must have known."

Skar shook his head slowly. "No. But I had some ideas."

"Ideas?"

Skar seemed to think about how he could best describe what he meant. "I...I knew how things had to end, but seeing the road between then and now...I couldn't see that."

"Did you see Kal die?" Rishi asked a little offensively, surprised at his own anger.

"No, I didn't," Skar said again, some tension in his voice. "But yes, everything did work out the way I _believed _it had to be. According to what I'd been told."

"Told?" Rishi asked.

"By the Force."

Rishi swallowed hard. "When you were dead...what did you see?"

Skar looked down at his own boots, strangely sad all of a sudden. "I didn't see as much, as I was told. We're too proud of ourselves, Rishi...too in love with our own myths, our legacy. The Kjoil thought they were going to outmatch the Jedi Knights in every way possible, we thought that was why we were created. But we're wrong. We _are _the hands of fate, the true sons of destiny, and perhaps someday some Kjoil will appear that can shoulder that responsibility...but we're not there yet. Me, Skind, Sasa...we're prime examples of the worst thing that can happen."

Rishi could read the implications between the words. "You're...putting it to me?"

"No, Rishi," Skar said firmly. "You are _not _going to be the one. But you are going to make sure this is going to be one."

Rishi knew the answer, and felt a great weight on his shoulders. "The refugees."

Skar nodded. "You will go to them, and you will watch over them. I am not asking you to train them; infact, at this point I'm almost sure the best thing would be to never train them anything at all. But you will make sure they stay isolated, and make sure none of them ever grow to the kind of madness that has infected us." Skar hugged himself. "I was also told that the Force considers us a mistake...I don't believe that, but I believe it is our responsibility to prove the Force wrong. We've only been a mistake so far, but we can still change that. Perhaps someday, just maybe, one of them will be able to stay clear of our mistakes."

Rishi shook his head. "A mistake? Master, that can't be true."

"It has been true so far," Skar replied, a reminiscent gaze in his eyes. "None of this would have happened if Skind Kjoil had never left Ka'ckak. That is fact, Rishi. He became too powerful and he too was swayed by Darkness. Because of him, Koll and Sasa set out to do what they did, which lead you and me to this moment."

Rishi nodded towards him. "_You _cheated destiny."

"No, I cheated myself. You can never cheat destiny. Stopping Koll and Sasa and telling you where to go...that was my destiny. That was the plan the Force designed for me."

Kast suddenly looked away from the grass around them, sat forward and joined their conversation. "Plan? You're saying everything is...predestined?"

Skar nodded. "The Force has an idea about all of us, but there is no ultimate ending. The Force has written a great story for all us, but if we stop listening to it that story can go into areas that don't have a happy ending." Skar smiled warmly and nodded towards Rishi. "The Force cares about all its children, even the squirmy ones."

Rishi could feel his own cheeks blush.

Skar went on. "We know things about the Force that the Jedi may never learn. They still consider it to be an energy source, something they can count in midiclorians. And we're going to leave them that illusion. Someday they will understand too. They are still infants to the Force, Rishi, and if the Force can allow them patience, so can we."

Kast had a mournful look on his face, a puzzled hurt. "I...still don't see it. You said this is all planned, that the future is set. Then why did the others die and I didn't? I made it through...they could have made it through. Raine spared me...was it...just their time? Why couldn't they have made it?"

Skar shrugged slowly. "You're asking the wrong guy, Kast. Maybe your story isn't over yet."

Kast sat there, shaking his head at the ground. "I...feel...this is the most important thing I've ever been involved in. And that scares me."

"Why?" Rishi asked.

The commando looked up. "Because I'm not dead. So...that means I'm going to have to do more."

Skar got up, but groaned as he stood, clearly tired and worn. "The Republic can't be told about what happened out here. 2L must have his memory wiped. We three are the only ones that are going to know what happened out here. But..." Skar looked down upon Kast, "the Republic will never accept your silence."

Kast's expression turned even more conflicted. "You're saying...I can't go home again?"

Skar nodded. "Right. You will never be awarded for any of this, Kast. As far as the Republic knows, the Sons of Destiny were defeated on Regana and no one ever found out who they really were, or their plans. This is the way it must be."

Kast moved his eyes back down to the ground. "Absent without leave," Kast said to himself, using a military term.

Rishi sympathized with the soldier. He'd been fighting all this way and now he had nothing to show for it. He couldn't tell anyone about it, he couldn't even go home because no one would ever leave him alone. He would be questioned by the military and they'd throw him away in a cell for disobedience and disloyalty. Someone would want the reason for the deaths of thousands of Republic soldiers, someone would want an explanation for the loss of the Star Destroyers.

But the truth would destroy the very reason they'd had to fight back the Sons of Destiny. The Republic was headed for years of war, and the fighting would shake the Galaxy's foundation, but the aftermath would make for a brighter world. The very same thing the Sons of Destiny had wanted to produce, but in the wrong way. With the mentality of creating a guardian program against outside threats, the people of the Galaxy wouldn't gain the experience they would having to fight for themselves. Fighting against the alien invasion as a unit, the future Galaxy would be shaken out of apathy.

But none of that, no future promises of a better world, would put a smile on Kast's face. None of it would make him feel everything he'd given up and lost was worth it. As a soldier, his only rewards in life were to come back home from a mission, to look upon his still-living comrades, and to be congratulated by his superiors.

Skar stayed silent while Kast thought about the situation. He knew there was nothing he could say that was going to change anything inside of Kast's internal turmoil, and yet a million possibilities popped up in his head.

In the end Kast lifted up his head and looked at them both, his warrior-face slowly emerging. "I don't need an insignia to be a good soldier." He cheered up a little bit. "But somebody's going to have to give me a ride somewhere. All the places I know outside of Coruscant are...well...warzones."

Rishi chuckled. "Well...apart from the Sons of Destiny, I know a place you'll be very welcome."

Kast nodded and gave a warm smile. "Thank you. I'll give it a shot."

"I believe," Skar said, drawing in a heavy breath, "that is my cue. You two, get out of here."

Rishi got up and watched his Master as the man walked forward into the grass. "Wh - " words got caught in his throat. "What are you doing?"

Skar's fingers reached outside of his sleeves and slid across the grass as he walked, each leaf moving against his palms. "My path ends here, at the beginning of yours. My place is here. My family is here. I've played my part. I never imagined...it could happen so easily."

Rishi walked behind him. "I don't understand."

Skar's eyes glistened by the sunlight, a peaceful expression on his face. "I'm talking about my legacy. My legacy is not yet full, but it will be in time. In you. My memory is your heritage. You will make me proud," Skar reached down and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt. Skar tossed the lightsaber over his shoulder and it dropped into Rishi's palms.

"I'm sure you already know this, but this is not a blade."

Rishi cradled the lightsaber in his hands.

"It was never built to take lives, Rishi. It was meant to save them. It's a shield. That's all we are, all we should be. Protectors. It should never be about finding something to believe in," Skar turned and showed Rishi his tear-filled eyes, "it's about finding _someone _to believe in."

Rishi's hand tightened around the hilt, a single tear running down his cheek. "I don't want to say goodbye, Master."

Skar smiled encouragingly. "Death is never goodbye, Rishi. Go lightly down your - "

The line was left unfinished as a gentle breeze passed over them, it seemed to extract the very soul from Skar's body as it moved over him. His knees buckled and he was dead even before Rishi caught him in his arms, kneeling down and resting him against his leg. 2L gasped and Kast got up to help but he understood that it was already over. He remained back and gave Rishi time and space to do what he had to.

The young Kjoil hugged his Master tightly, softly rocking him back and forth, tears dripping from his cheeks. The grass around him moved in waves, brushing up against him, but he could have been anywhere in the world at that point. He felt removed from everything. He didn't say a word, didn't release a sigh or a wimper. He'd already lost his Master once and he hadn't had him back long enough to nurture any hope of them ever being fully united. So much darkness and grief had infected their last times together, but Rishi knew now that everything was forgiven and everything was the way it should be.

Master Skar had died in his arms, and not alone this time. There was no more he could learn from Master Skar, and the time had come for him to set out on his own path.

The circle was complete.

Rishi gathered the strength to stand up and carry his Master back to the _Koniduz_. Kast and the droids followed him up the ramp and locked it tight behind them. Rishi positioned the body on the nearest bunk and folded his Master's cloak around the limbs, pulling up the cowl to cover the face, as though it was a child and he was making sure it would keep warm before a cold night.

Kast walked up behind him. "You okay?"

Rishi stood back from the bunk, drying away the tears from his face and released a sigh into his palm. "No more tears left to shed." He looked over to the commando and gave a brave smile. "Coruscant...it may not be our home anymore, Kast, but that doesn't mean we're going to leave it behind without a proper goodbye."

* * *

At the edge of the forest, where tall grass met majestic trees, Skind Kjoil's ghost manifested itself out of thin air. His dark silouette stared cryptically at the collection of trees before him, seeing a dim light far inside that was now the grave of his old love. And yet, there was an urge, a misgiving. He could swear, he was sure, that his undead heart fluttered at the thought of her dead in there. He could swear he could hear her screaming among the trees, feel her pain touch him.

He was about to step into the woods when he felt another presence behind him.

"Skind, no."

Skind didn't need to turn around to see this newcomer. The voice revealed the identity.

"Master Yoda."

Yoda's ghostly shape moved unsteadily, like smoke rising from a candle. "Done, your time here is. Time to move on."

Skind knew the old Jedi Master was right, as always. It was just an undead reflex. For so many decades he'd awaited the moment that Selia Iver's spirit would join with the Force, and now that she was, he couldn't help wishing he could have saved her. He took a step back and glanced over his shoulder at Yoda.

"Am I being rewarded...finally? Will she be there?"

Yoda nodded and started to fade again. "Keep her waiting, you should not."

Skind Kjoil watched Yoda vanish from view, just as a small ship lifted from the ground not far away, just as the world around him started to melt into one, becoming a glowing warm light that surrounded him, removing all of the physical realm until he had passed fully beyond.

Until there was only light, only warmth, only the Force.

And Selia Iver, at long last, smiling back at him.

* * *

When the _Koniduz _entered New Republic space, and subsequently Coruscant's atmosphere, Rishi felt a fear rise up in him. He remembered Master Skar once telling him of his strange obsession and fear regarding the planet, that he had been scared to go there long ago, because he was afraid the planet's beauty would enrapture him, and blind him from his original path. But it wasn 't the same fear that Rishi felt now. Rishi had been there before, he'd lived deep in the underbelly of the diamond that was called Coruscant.

He was not afraid of it's beauty. He was afraid of the sadness that now hung over Coruscant like a fleet of dark clouds. He was afraid because he knew Coruscant was already dead, already lost even now years before the alien invasion would come. And to him it was infact already a ghost city, as hazy as any image he could pull forth from his mind.

Billions of people surrounded him and he could already hear their screaming in his mind, those future death-cries. He could feel it rise up from the surface miles beneath him like a phantom hand that would drag him down into it's grave and swallow him along with the rest.

There, the sadness, it had emerged and Rishi stifled the tears. These people, this gem of a world, were already sentenced to death, and he could not help it. He could not warn them. All those faces of people he had met, all those hours he'd been talking to members of Skywalker's family, the Jedi Knights, the senators, the officials; all those faces flashed before his eyes and he could save them, he could save them with words.

It was that simple.

But nothing was simple, and nothing was fair. His sadness went out to the state of the world that existed, where billions of people had to die in order to create unity and balance, where death was the only mentor. Peace through silence. He could feel a shred of sympathy for a man like Koll Riokon, a man who had seen the beauty of Coruscant as well, a man who had known if he wanted to save that beauty, he had to destroy it.

Touching a switch he activated the _Koniduz'_s external sensors and programmed them to take snapshot holograms of the planet's surface as the ship hovered through the cityscapes, saving for himself images he could one day sit and watch.

Kast looked at the world in an entirely different way. He seemed as tense and coiled as any time him and Rishi had gone into a fight, as poised and ready to pounce if the situation arose. He regarded Coruscant as an enemy. The commando knew that his group's intended destruction was the sole work of Admiral Gout Saul, a man who had been swayed by Eknath's mind tricks, in order to bring the Star Destroyers to Regana.

But it wasn't as simple as that in his mind, Gout Saul was just one man, and he hadn't physically killed any of his comrades. But he stood in Kast's mind as a simple of the corruption that infested Coruscant. He knew Gout Saul had willingly given himself to Eknath. Kast had also learned a lot about himself and his entire perception of Corusccant had become a hateful one. This government had taught and trained him to kill at their will, but he'd seen the larger world now. Coruscant was a symbol of the old Kast, the blind ignorant Kast.

Rishi brought the ship into a trajectory that placed it above a landing platform. Master Skywalker was already aware of his return and had agreed to meet him there. Whether or not Skywalker knew what Rishi had to say, he couldn't guess. He just knew that above all he owed to Skywalker to say goodbye.

The _Koniduz _descended down through the levels and outside, caught in daylight, Coruscant looked like it had never happened. A planet completely oblivious to everything Rishi had been through, a city unaware of all the sacrifices people had been through to save it. All of the death and the pain. Rishi felt cold inside and started to see things through Kast's eyes.

The _Koniduz _bumped as it settled onto the landing platform and Rishi's thoughts were pushed away. He left the cockpit behind, with Kast in tow, and dropped the landing ramp in the back. The moment the familiar air of Coruscant hit him he savored the moment and relished the sight of all the buildings around him, a magnificence he might never see again.

Kast still wore his rifle over his shoulder and frowned at the structures towering over him, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow, seeing enemies everywhere. But his conflict shone through his eyes, his own acknowledgement that he couldn't blame the city itself. But to a soldier it was the nearest thing he had, and soldiers needed objects to project their anger. Rishi hoped someday he would see Kast smile again, that he too would learn to let go of it and accept the reality.

Master Skywalker was already there, at the edge of the landing platform, a cloaked sillouette against the radiance of the tall building behind him. Rishi felt his own heart start to pace and set a path towards Luke, already longing to be back inside the _Koniduz _and on his way out of here.

When they reached the Jedi Master, Rishi bowed to him briefly, but Kast stayed behind Rishi to his right, the place of a protector, of a bodyguard. And Kast's eyes were locked on to Luke, one finger on the trigger, the other hand on a vibroblade in his belt. Coiled and ready.

Luke pulled his hood back and showed his concerned face, showed his eyes that seemed to look for a third figure that just wasn't there. He let out a heavy breath and collected his hands at his belly.

Never one to small-talk, Luke went straight for the core. "Suddenly...I am back many years ago, when your Master first came here, Rishi. When you were just a toddler hiding behind his legs. I feel that same conflict of joy and worry that I did back then." Luke forced a smile. "You look just like him, that same...stubborn look in his eyes."

Rishi stood frozen still. "I wish things could be different, Luke. I really do. But this is a short visit. I only came to say goodbye."

Luke was instantly offensive. "Goodbye? Listen to me, Rishi; many things have happened. The Republic is in an uproar about all of this. They want reports, details, explanations about everything that's happened. And so do I. Where is Skar, where is Kal? What happened out there, Rishi?"

Rishi drew in a big breath and pushed away the desire to tell Luke everything. "Thank you for letting me stay here, Luke. Me and Skar and 2L all thank you for your generosity. But our lease here has expired, and it's time we moved on."

Luke's jaw fell slightly, confusion all over his face. "Is Skar still alive?"

Rishi shook his head. "No, Luke. He's not."

"What happened?"

Rishi summoned the courage to withstand Luke, the urge to be honest to a dear friend, a mentor. His heart bled. "He died a hero, Luke. Let's leave it at that."

Luke wouldn't be shot down so easily. "You can't simplify it like that, Rishi. Not with me. I wanna know what happened on Regana. I cared for Skar also."

Rishi looked away, feeling pain looking Luke in the eyes and lying to him. "It's better you don't know. There will be no great tale of Skar Kjoil the Brave, Skar Kjoil the Magnificent, because it simply wasn't that way. I can't give you a proper debriefing since I've made a promise not to. Just accept that he is gone. He didn't even want me to come here, but I had to say goodbye."

"And go where?"

Rishi blinked. "Master Skar left me a heritage that I must attend to."

Luke's expression sharpened. "The Kjoil refugees. Can you train them by yourself?"

Rishi smiled briefly. "They will receive all the training they need."

Luke's hands unfolded and hung at his sides. "So...that's it? Will I ever see you again?"

Rishi kept looking beyond Luke. "No. But I'll be watching you, Luke. You're headed for a difficult time and I'm sorry I can't help you more. But...this is the way it must be, for the best of this Galaxy. The way the Force wants it."

Luke stepped forward fast -

Too fast for Kast's taste. The commando's rifle rose and aimed at Luke's chest.

Luke stopped, a look of betrayal on his face.

But Kast's eyes cleared and he unslung the rifle from his shoulder, stepped aside and walked for the edge of the pad. He pulled his rifle back over his head and tossed it out over the edge, letting go of his only protection, the one thing that had gotten him through the hell he'd been through, his last link to the Republic. The rifle spun around itself as it fell hundreds of levels and faded from view among the maze of lights below.

Kast stepped back from the edge and let out a deep sigh. Soon he walked away from the edge and walked for the _Koniduz _again, clearly done with the world. Rishi knew Luke wouldn't understand the symbolism of Kast's sacrifice, there was no way he could, but Rishi felt the same pride rise up in himself that was coursing through Kast.

Rishi felt broader and stronger. "May the Force be with you, Luke."

Luke said something more, even shouted at his back, but Rishi had already turned away and walked for the _Koniduz_, hearing it's engines start to revv up again. Whatever Luke said drowned out in the ship's waking roar. Rishi walked up the ramp, and realized he could put a smile on his face, one eye looking out at the city, a city once his home, around him before it dissapeared within the rim of the _Koniduz'_s cargo hold.

Rishi heard the ramp slam shut behind him, severing every last tie to the Republic, to Coruscant, to Luke and to everything he had just saved.

* * *

**From The Private Journals Of Rishi Kjoil**

_Ahem...Well, today is...today is the one year anniversary of my return to New Ka'ckak, the home of the Kjoil survivors. Upon my first arrival here I didn't know what to expect, I hadn't seen this place for more than a decade. But the seniors of the group had pulled through in the most amazing way. The ship that Master Skar had, in lack of a better word, stolen from the Republic to transport them from Draori to New Ka'ckak, has been rebuilt and now functions as a center of the building community. Almost as a city in the itself, the ship is surrounded by rings of smaller huts and cottages, even crude roads have been paved and the people have taken great advantage of the world's agriculture._

_I was fearing chaos, and I got serenity._

_The people carry with them a feeling of simple peace, an innocence and ignorance to everything evil and past, completely devoid of worry or unrest, and it turned out to be just the thing I needed. My experiences from Regana and Anodyn, my turn towards the Dark Side, and the death of Master Skar hadn't completely settled in. But as soon as I came here, I walked into a set of duties and expectations, and of course I had to explain to everyone what had happened. _

_I told the younger ones the story as a fable, a myth shared over a lit fire late into the night. He has become somewhat of myth since his last visit, they all talk of Master Skar as some great savior, and I think that image serves him well. The elders were given the more exact story, even as far as telling them Master Skar's version of Kjoil heritage. It may provoke incidents but...I've always known that sooner or later darkness will find this place, that a person will stumble upon the Force and the Dark Side. It is only natural to assume this will happen, to be ready for it. But there have been no indications of it so far, I am glad to say. I fear the day, however._

_Kast seems to have fallen in nicely. It's strange to remember the edgy soldier I fought alongside on Anodyn, and see the change in him now. He's one of the first faces I see every day, and he always brings me a smile. He seems to feel right at home here, playing with the younger children, teaching them wargames, while teaching some of the elders how to hunt for food. Obviously they knew how to set traps before, but everyone had to bow down to being taught how to hunt by a New Republic commando. He has shed his soldier's skin almost completely, and even though he won't admit it, I think he's taken a liking to some, if not more, of the women here._

_**(Silence for a few seconds)**_

_I haven't begun training anyone yet. I know I have to at one point, but the idea of getting it wrong is keeping me. I'm afraid of failing, afraid of starting. But I have to start at some point, because this is what I want. This is what I said I'd do. This is what was left in my hands. I still feel guilty about not telling Luke about the future before I left, it's...it's strange. All my life I was trying to change the world for the better, taking on whatever tasks I could, big and small. Then I end up having to do the exact opposite; to let the world be. _

_Then again, I was always living in the future. Always thinking about tomorrow. Always trying to be someone else, always trying to be better than what I was. It took a long time for me to learn that life is growing experience. You can't change yourself, you can only grow, but there will always be a core to you, something that will always be there. The best thing is to just accept that part, maybe even learn to love it. That is the true way to finding your way through life; listen and learn._

_**(Sound of door opening)**_

_**(Voice of unknown male child:)** Master Rishi, come play with us!_

_Ye-yeah, I'll be right there._

_**(Voice of unknown male child:**) Come on! Master Kast says you're afraid he's going to beat you!_

_Well, you tell him he's lucky it's just a game._

_**(Sound of door closing)**_

_Where was I...doesn't matter. It's time for me to stop being afraid of new beginnings, time to go straight for them. Time for me to start my own. I will never forget the days and years behind me, everything I've learned. I had to see it, to live it, and I am eternally grateful. For the good and the bad._

_**(Sound of man getting up, a deep sigh)**_

_And I know you're still here, Master. You may think you can hide from me, but you're not that good. Keep watching me all you want, and I hope the day will come where you decide to commune with me. I'm sure you and Shinran still have a lot of catching up to do._

_**(Sound of finger resting on off switch)**_

_And so do I._

**The End**


End file.
